~ Early Web Links ~

Brian W. Coad, a retired ichthyologist from the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, shares decades of expertise through resources including a Dictionary of Ichthyology, annotated checklists of Canadian fishes, and detailed studies of freshwater fishes from Iran and Iraq. The site is a remarkable reference collection for anyone interested in fish taxonomy, zoogeography, and biodiversity, with content serious enough to be published as academic papers and books.

Fishes of Australia is a comprehensive reference database hosted by Museums Victoria on behalf of the OzFishNet community, covering the diversity and biology of Australia's marine and freshwater fish species. Visitors can explore an interactive Lucid Key for identifying freshwater fishes, a picture-based Family Finder, and detailed species profiles like the rare Whiskered Prowfish.

Pembrokeshire Birds is a long-running blog dedicated to birdwatching observations across Pembrokeshire, Wales, covering sightings from notable sites like Skokholm Island and Teifi Marshes. With records dating back to 2008, annual reports, species lists, and detailed field notes, it serves as a rich regional ornithological resource for birders interested in Welsh wildlife.

Built by a librarian and PhD student researching the cultural history of dinosaurs in children's media, Terrible Lizard blends academic bibliography, subject guides, and curated open-access resources in the spirit of old-school faculty homepages. Visitors will find ecohorror reading lists, dinosaur-related databases, language resources, and topic shrines organized with a librarian's careful hand.

Bogleech is Jonathan Wojcik's long-running labor of love covering creature design reviews, bizarre biology, weird fiction, and year-round Halloween horror since 2001. Visitors will find deep-dive reviews of Pokemon and Digimon monsters, original tabletop RPG content including the Mortasheen bestiary, Halloween finds, and a sprawling archive of creature-focused writing spanning decades.

Thomas J. Elpel's plant identification hub teaches visitors to recognize wildflowers, weeds, and edible plants by learning the patterns of plant families rather than memorizing individual species. The site complements his book 'Botany in a Day' and includes slideshows, weed ecology, foraging guides, mushroom information, and online classes.

Hosted at Bucknell University, this online database presents the complete third edition of 'Mammal Species of the World' (MSW3), edited by Don E. Wilson and DeeAnn M. Reeder, covering taxonomic and geographic reference data for all recognized mammal species. Researchers and enthusiasts can browse the full hierarchy from Order down to Subspecies, search by scientific or common name, and even export the entire taxonomy as a CSV file.

Kaskakokos is a Spanish-language personal site from Cantabria featuring a section dedicated to local plant life, alongside writings and projects by the creator. The 'Plantas de Cantabria' section suggests a focus on regional flora, making it a charming mix of nature documentation and personal creative output.

Awkward Botany is an amateur botany blog written for the "phytocurious," covering plant families, weed profiles, horticulture, urban ecology, and plant identification with genuine depth and enthusiasm. Posts like the detailed breakdown of Liatris microcephala and the Weeds of Boise series showcase careful research and a love of plant science that will delight both beginners and seasoned plant nerds.

A comprehensive scientific reference on freshwater benthic ecology and aquatic entomology, covering macroinvertebrate taxa from mayflies and dragonflies to beetles and caddisflies across dozens of detailed chapters. Produced by the Soil and Water Conservation Society of Metro Halifax, this site offers taxa tolerance values, biological monitoring protocols, and research reports focused on freshwater ecosystems in Nova Scotia and beyond.