Biodiversity

About the Committee

Chair

Members

  • Edson Abreu
  • Jess Alston
  • Toni Androski
  • Madeleine Becker
  • Connor Burgin
  • Camilo Calderón-Acevedo
  • Jocelyn Colella
  • Evan Craig
  • Guillermo D’Elía
  • Gilma De Leon
  • Terrence C. Demos
  • Marissa Dyck
  • Jacob A. Esselstyn
  • Pierre-Henri Fabre
  • Anderson Feijó
  • Adam W. Ferguson
  • Jennifer Frey
  • Katie K. Gorman
  • Melissa Hawkins
  • Virginia Hayssen
  • Savage Hess
  • Arlo Hinckley
  • David G. Huckaby
  • Brooks Kohli
  • Tom Lee
  • Schuyler Liphardt
  • Sean P. Maher
  • Verity Mathis
  • Molly M. McDonough
  • Stephen G. Mech
  • Patricia Moehlman
  • Alexis Mychajliw
  • Jon Nations
  • Ryan W. Norris
  • George Oliver
  • Camilla Parker
  • Bruce D. Patterson
  • Nelish Pradhan
  • DeeAnn M. Reeder
  • Damien Rivera
  • Miguel Eduardo Rodríguez-Posada
  • Luis A. Ruedas
  • Brian P. Tanis
  • Hila Taylor
  • Jane Widness
  • Jelle Zilstra

 

Cross-committee Links

Informatics (Maher, Tanis), Nomenclature (Norris Reeder, McDonough, Pradhan), Mammal Images Library (Huckaby, Tanis), and Public Education (Mathis, Mech)

Mission

The Biodiversity Committee stewards the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD), an updatable and online database of mammal taxonomic and biodiversity information hosted by ASM at http://mammaldiversity.org/ [launched 6 Feb 2018 with J. Mammalogy publication by Burgin, Colella, Kahn, and Upham summarizing the listing of 6399 extant species]. This database aims to serve the global scientific community by providing the latest information on species-level and higher taxonomic changes, thereby promoting more rigorous study of mammalian biodiversity worldwide. The initial objective for this online database is to aggregate, curate, and compile new citations on species descriptions and taxonomic revisions into regular releases that are downloadable in comma-delimited format. Future goals include expanded hosting of ecological, trait, and taxonomic data, and an online forum for discussing mammalian taxonomy and systematics. By serving as both a platform and forum, this initiative aims to stimulate interest in mammals and promote the ASM’s role as a leader in high quality research on mammalian biology.

Link to the Mammal Diversity Database here:
 
Synthesis of changes in mammal species diversity from 2004 (Mammal Species of World, vol. 3) to 15 August 2017 are published here: