WWF Wildfinder study creates world's most comprehensive database of of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Scientists have long debated whether it is more effective to focus on areas with endemic species or on areas with many species overall. A paper published in the latest issue of journal Nature, sheds new light on this debate. The paper authored by scientists from WWF and the University of Virginia comes to the conclusion that conserving places with many endemic species will also conserve overall species richness. As part of the study titled Wildfinder,
the authors created the world's most comprehensive database of the distributions of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. For the first time, geographic information for 26,000 species can be found in one place.