Jumping spiders (Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae) of the world - Online for 26 years
Taxa
- 673 genera & 6469 species
- 18 undescribed documented species
- 1351 synonyms
- 467 nomina dubia
- 38 nomina nuda
- 22 fossil genera
- 57 fossil species
Distribution
- 348 countries & islands
- 10103 distribution maps
- 20162 counts for species distribution
Illustrations & Publications
- 20349 photos & 48865 drawings
- 660 genotype species illustrated
- 6070 species illustrated
- 6631 type series illustrated
- 1572 type series photographed
- 47 fossil species illustrated
- 3865 publications included
Copyrights
- non commercial - only for research and educational purpose
- all picture copyrights remain with their authors
NEW PROJECT
The Fauna Portal web identification platform: a concept for the rapid documentation of undescribed species
1Framenau V.W., 2Metzner H., 1Castanheira P. de S.
1Harry Butler institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia
2psbrands GmbH, Agency for efficient Communication, Fürth, Germany
The majority of the world’s invertebrate fauna remains undescribed and it is increasingly likely, that many species will remain undocumented before they go extinct. For example, approximately 70–80% of Australia's invertebrate fauna, is undescribed. Some 4.000 Australian spider species are currently named and species estimates have place the true diversity of this order in Australia between 8.500 and 20.000 species. Over the last five years (2017–2021), an average of 56 species were named each year. Assuming a similar speed of discovery, it would take 90–276 years (depending on the species estimate) to describe the remaining Australian araneofauna (questionable with little recruitment in the taxonomic workforce in Australia). Meanwhile, it is virtually impossible to use spiders in environmental studies or assess their distribution patterns, particularly of rare species of conservation significance.
The Fauna Portal Australia (www.faunaportal.org) aims to provide a stopgap for the documentation and identification of Australia's undocumented invertebrate fauna and is easily transferable to other geographic regions. It is based on a taxonomically stable nomenclatural system derived from proven zoological principals (reference specimen in public institutions and diagnosis) supported by an underlying database that provides genus- and species-level nomenclatural codes. Diagnostic images for each species allow for an identification of each species and these images are accessible via filters for projects, morphology, sex and/or developmental stage and distribution (either by state or a region selected via map). Documentation of a new species is fast due to the simple backend design of the website. User-restricted sections allow developing projects hidden to the public, for example research data can remain concealed until the they are published. We believe, the Fauna Portal has the potential to speed up species discovery, documentation and identification in Australia and elsewhere and support environmental and taxonomic research.