WhiskerWiki:About
What is WhiskerWiki?
WhiskerWiki was created in 2023 by Laura Steger and Rick Overson to aid field biologists, specimen preparators, students, and mammal enthusiasts in the identification of shrews, moles, and small rodents in the USA. These small, terrestrial, non-volant mammals are often tricky to identify, even when in hand. For each species account, we have provided a description, range map, measurements, important characters for identification, and notes on how to differentiate between similar looking species. We hope that you find WhiskerWiki a useful tool for identifying these small and fascinating creatures. One motivation to build this site is to remove the financial barriers that may prevent some folks from pursuing an education, job opportunity, or stumbling down a path of curiosity in the most fundamental aspects of mammalogy: taxonomy (what is it and what does it look like) and biogeography (where is it). Another motivation was to create a resource for the mammalogy community where the current taxonomy and latest taxonomic changes could be represented and communicated visually and updated by experts more frequently than on a manuscript publishing timeline. The American Society of Mammalogists' Mammal Diversity Database curates the taxonomy of the mammal species of the world, which we use as our taxonomic backbone. Taking this information one step further, we provide the associated range map, standard external measurements, images, and important characters to help make identifications easier. WhiskerWiki is largely a synthesis of existing knowledge and great effort has been made to credit the many sources. If a source has not been cited properly, please reach out to us and we will fix it immediately. Before citing any information provided, we recommend that you visit the original source to fully understand the context in which the original author's statements were made. The focus of WhiskerWiki is on how to identify shrews and small rodents in the USA. WhiskerWiki currently does not provide detailed information on habitat or life history of these mammals, unless it is absolutely necessary for successful identification. Habitat use and life history information is typically available in other free online sources such as Wikipedia, Animal Diversity Web and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Where possible, we have tried to limit the use of technical jargon. However, in some cases its use is necessary for accurately distinguishing features and describing the position of characters, particularly in the case of skulls. We have tried to indicate, with images, what some of these technical terms are referring to. A glossary is available that provides definitions and additional images.
We greatly appreciate any feedback and hope that you'll reach out to us if an error is discovered or if you would like to provide additional information or images. WhiskerWiki creators and contributors will make every effort to correct errors as soon as the error is discovered or reported. If you would like to provide feedback, report errors, or wish to contribute, please fill out the Whiskerwiki.org User Feedback Form
Taxonomic groups represented
WhiskerWiki focuses on two unrelated groups of mouse-like mammals in the USA for functional convenience. One set of species on the wiki are members of Rodentia (rodents). Rodentia contains the very familiar true mice and rats and is part of a larger evolutionary lineage (Euarchontoglires) which includes rabbits and primates. The other set of species on the site consists of members of Eulipotyphla (shrews and their relatives), which belong to the lineage Laurasiatheria. This lineage encompasses a wide range of mammals such as whales, rhinoceroses, wolves, and bats. WhiskerWiki uses the Mammal Diversity Database as the base of its taxonomic schema which is hosted and regularly updated by the American Society of Mammalogists.
Images
The majority of specimen and skull images were sourced from the NEON Biorepository portal, a publicly available resource at Arizona State University. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a 30-year continental-scale ecological monitoring observatory funded by the US National Science Foundation. With 81 field sites across the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, covering 20 eco-climatic domains, the NEON project creates an unprecedented opportunity for understanding the variation and distribution of many of the small mammals within the US. Several specimen images were captured from specimens archived at the Arizona State University Natural History Collections (Collection Manager: Dakota Rowsey). Additional skull images were created from material loaned by the following institutions: University of California Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (Collection Manager: Chris Conroy), University of Washington Burke Museum (Collection Manager: Jeff Bradley), Natural History Museum of Utah (Collection Manager: Katrina Derieg), and the Museum of Southwestern Biology (Collection Manager: Jon Dunnum). Most images of live animals were captured by WhiskerWiki creators Laura Steger and Rick Overson. Additional images were sourced from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and iNaturalist. We'd like to give a big shout-out to all of the folks who contribute to iNaturalist and other citizen science platforms. The images and data you collect help document species distributions and variation (particularly color and relative size) within and across species.
Vernacular names
English names are sourced from the American Society of Mammalogists' Mammal Diversity Database. Spanish names are sourced from Spanish and English Vernacular Names of Mammals of North America by Sergio Ticul Álvarez-Castañeda and Noé Gónzalez-Ruiz. French names are sourced from The Natural History of Canadian Mammals by Donna Naughton. WhiskerWiki allows users to search for a species by its scientific or common name in English, Spanish, or French.
WhiskerWiki FAQ
How can I contribute?
Whiskerwiki.org User Feedback Form
How do I report an error or recommend a change?
Whiskerwiki.org User Feedback Form
How long will it take WhiskerWiki to address or fix reported errors?
We will make every effort to correct reported errors within 48 hours.