PanTHERIA

PanTHERIA is a comprehensive database of ecological and life-history traits for living and extinct mammals. Developed by scientists at the University of Oxford, it aims to provide a standardized, high-quality resource for researchers studying mammalian evolution, ecology, and conservation. The database contains information on over 4,000 species, encompassing a wide range of characteristics such as body mass, lifespan, litter size, diet, geographic distribution, and habitat.

The creation of PanTHERIA involved extensive data compilation from published literature, museum collections, and expert knowledge. Researchers meticulously curated and standardized the data to ensure consistency and comparability across species. This effort allows for large-scale comparative analyses that can reveal patterns and drivers of mammalian diversity and adaptation. For example, PanTHERIA has been instrumental in studies investigating the relationship between body size and extinction risk, or the evolution of reproductive strategies.

The database is freely accessible online, enabling a broad scientific community to utilize its resources. It serves as a crucial tool for addressing fundamental questions in biology, such as understanding the factors that influence species' vulnerability to environmental change or predicting the potential impacts of climate change on mammal populations. PanTHERIA continues to be updated and expanded as new data become available, maintaining its status as a vital resource for mammalogy.