The Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters has announced the 150th anniversary of the Zoological Record, the oldest continuous bibliographic database in life sciences and the leading and most comprehensive source for biodiversity, systematics and zoological information. Housed within the Web of Science, the premier web-based platform for scientific search and discovery and the authority in science, social science, and arts and humanities indices, the Zoological Record serves as the world's unofficial, but primary, animal-name repository covering the entire animal kingdom, including living and fossil species.
Albert Günther was the original editor of the Zoological Record, first published in 1864 and founded by a group of scientists associated with the Zoological Society of London and British Museum to disseminate and connect their research. This early database revolutionised life sciences by serving as a key driver in the advancement of systematic zoology and biodiversity research. Since its origination, the archive has recorded nearly 1.2 million species and influenced the work of environmental researchers including those studying global warming, energy and conservation.
Over the years, the Zoological Record has continued to expand and adapt to the needs of its researchers. Today, as part of the Web of Science, the digitized Zoological Record directly connects to a vast network of people, organisations, documents and countries, providing millions of connections documenting the evolution of science over the past century. Trusted by more than 6,900 of the of the world's leading research institutions and hundreds of governments, the Web of Science is the primary resource through which scientific literature is captured for scholarly record.
In recognition of this sesquicentennial anniversary, Thomson Reuters will host the Taxonomy Trivia Challenge, a three-part contest that challenges participant's research skills in a race against the clock for a chance to win prizes, including an iPad®, Beats headphones and a GoPro® camera. Taxonomy Trivia Challenge will time participants in their search of the Zoological Record to find the name of a species after viewing a series of photos and clues about the identity of an animal. To learn more about the contest and to find out how you can enter, visit Web of Science and follow Web of Science on Twitter for the latest updates.
