THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LIFE PROJECT:

The Encyclopedia of Life is a collaborative project of the Field Museum, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Holem, Mass.,the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the Natural History Museum of London, the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Talks are underway with other institutions to secure collaboration. The goal of this project is to have an online documentation of the 1.8 million species so far named, with pages for each of the species giving written information, photographs, video, sound and location maps. The site will be available in all major languages. The first pages of the encyclopedia will be uploaded in the second quarter of 2008, beginning with vertebrates. Unlike The Tree of Life previously discussed on Molly's Blog the Encyclopedia will feature species diversity rather than evolutionary relationships.

To sign up for updates and notices on the Encyclopedia as it develops go to the above bookmarked site.