ZipcodeZoo: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Online zoological encyclopedia}}

{{db-multiple|G4|G11|G12|url=http://zipcodezoo.com/index.php/ZipcodeZoo:About}}

{{multiple issues|{{COI|date=March 2015}}

{{Infobox Website

{{Sources exist|date=August 2025}}

{{primary sources|date=March 2015}}}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox Websitewebsite

| name = ZipcodeZoo

| url = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20170715224437/http://ZipcodeZoozipcodezoo.com/index.php/Main_Page}}

| commercial = No

| type = Encyclopedia

| registration = Optional

| owner =

| launch datelaunch_date = {{launchstart date|2004|09|26}}

| current_status = Offline

| current status = Active

| author = [[David Stang]]<br> [[Jim Hetland]]

| alexa = {{DecreasePositive}} 455,459 ({{as of|2015|3|14|alt=March2015}})<ref name="alexa">{{cite web|url= http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/zipcodezoo.com |title= ZipcodeZoo Site Info | publisher= [[Alexa Internet]] |accessdate= 2015-3-14 }}</ref>

}}

'''ZipcodeZoo''' iswas a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all living [[species]] and [[infraspecies]] known to science.<ref>http://zipcodezoo.com/index.php?title=ZipcodeZoo:About</ref> It iswas compiled from existing databases. It offersoffered one page for each living species, supplementing text with video, sound, and images where available. ZipcodeZoo was integrated into an app called Lookup Life.<ref>''[https://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/free-app-helps-you-identify-plants-and-animals.html wasThis free app helps you identify the plants and animals around you] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116155911/https://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/free-app-helps-you-identify-plants-and-animals.html |date=16 November 2019 }}'' from TreeHugger 2015/07/07</ref> As of 2019 the site launchedno inlonger 2004works.

== Goals ==

ZipcodeZoo was an online [[database]] that collected the [[natural history]], [[Biological classification|classification]], [[species]] characteristics, [[conservation biology]], and [[Range (biology)|distribution]] [[information]] of thousands of species and [[infraspecies]]. It included over 800,000 [[photographs]], 50,000 [[video]]s, 160,000 [[media clip|sound clip]]s, and 3.2 million [[map]]s describing nearly 3.2 million species and infraspecies. Its content is now only available on the [[Internet Archive]]

ZipcodeZoo.com provides a field guide for amateur and professional naturalists, providing assistance in species identification. Specifically, the site strives for comprehensiveness, currency, great illustrations, and responsiveness.

* '''comprehensiveness'''.

The site and its sister site lookup.life included a number of specialized search functions, such as identifying a bird species from its color, shape and other traits, including where it was seen; or generating a list of plants or animals likely to be found in or near a specific ___location (a zipcode, state, country, latitude/longitude, etc.). The searches could be restricted to specific taxa, or broad categories like reptiles or fish. A sound trainer could play multiple bird song recordings simultaneously.

** Information is provided on every species listed in the [http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2015/ Catalogue of Life: 2015 Annual Checklist], which builds on 151 databases developed by taxonomists specializing in various groups of plants or animals.

** Every page builds on the expertise embodied in Wikipedia, which has been found to be about as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_of_Wikipedia accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica].

ZipcodeZoo drew on the [[Catalogue of Life]] for its basic species list, the [[Global Biodiversity Information Facility]] for its maps, [[Flickr]] for many of its photos, [[YouTube]] for videos, [[Xeno-canto]] for some of its sound recordings, the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]] for conservation status, and other major sources.<ref>such as the [http://taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl/ Taxonomicon] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824160507/http://taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl/ |date=24 August 2009 }} for taxonomic information.</ref>

* '''currency'''. An encyclopedia must contain current information to be useful.

** Information on any species is constantly expanding, and sometimes changing. ZipcodeZoo.com uses Wikipedia as one primary source of information; to keep current, the English version is mirrored monthly, and pages are republished as Wikipedia's content changes.

All the pages were published under one of the Creative Commons licenses.

** Scientific names change. When a user searches for any of 945,000+ synonyms, they will be automatically redirected to the preferred name.

* '''copious illustrations'''. The site mines Flickr and Wikimedia Commons for photos, Youtube for videos, and Xeno-Canto for sound recordings, all to assure that a user understands what a species looks and sounds like.

==References==

* '''responsive layout'''. Sites such as [http://en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] are not designed to work in cellphones or other devices which may have limited resolution, and when they load, menus collapse into a heap and tables run off the page. ZipcodeZoo.com will be the first Mediawiki site to have a responsive design (coming soon!).

{{Reflist}}

* Use of geolocation. Species identification is a matter of probability. We do not want to conclude we have seen X if X is extinct, or only found in Antarctica.

* '''Finders'''. You can use geolocation information (captured automatically by HTML5 and most smart devices) to help you sort through what you've seen using the various finders at [http://Lookup.Life Lookup Life].

[[Category:Biodiversity databases]]

* '''maps'''. The site includes maps from GBIF for all species. Maps allow panning, zooming, changing the map style, and scrolling through time to see how an animal population has changed.

[[Category:Biology websites]]

[[Category:Online encyclopedias]]

[[Category:Internet properties established in 2004]]

[[Category:Taxonomy (biology)]]

[[Category:Websites which use Wikipedia]]

[[Category:Encyclopedias of science]]

[[Category:Defunct websites]]