Amphibian Species of the World 6.1: An Online Reference (ASW) is a database of amphibian science. It lists the names of frogs, salamanders and other amphibians, which scientists discovered each species, and what year. It also says where the amphibians live.
The American Museum of Natural History hosts Amphibian Species of the World.
History
The Association of Systematics Collections (ASC) started this project in 1978 because the Convention on Trade In Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) needed a database for animals. (The ASC later changed its name to Natural Science Collections Alliance.) The ASC's Stephen R. Edwards wrote Mammal Species of the World first and started Amphibian Species of the World second. Edwards decided to write about living amphibians because Richard G. Zweifel had just written a large list of amphibian names and because experts from the University of Kansas were there to help. Darrel Frost came to help Edwards. Frost planned to write Turtle and Crocodilian Species of the World next, but he decided to finish his Ph.D. instead.
In 1985, the ASC gave the copyright for Amphibian Species of the World to the Herpetologists' League, and they added more amphibians to it. The League and American Museum of Natural History put D.R. Frost in charge of the project. At the time, Frost was a curator at the American Museum of Natural History. Frost added more information for professional amphibian scientists to use. He corrected bad information. He added more species that had been discovered after 1985.[1]
Response
According to Amphibians.org, "For three decades ASW has been the primary reference for amphibian taxonomy." In 2013, Frost won the Sabin Award for his work on Amphibian Species of the World.[2]
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