AnimalTraits - a Curated Animal Trait Database for Body Mass, Metabolic Rate and Brain Size

Overview

Journal Sci Data

Specialty Science

Date 2022 Jun 2

PMID 35654905

Authors

Marie E Herberstein

Donald James McLean

Elizabeth Lowe

Jonas O Wolff

Md Kawsar Khan

Kaitlyn Smith

Andrew P Allen

Matthew Bulbert

Bruno A Buzatto

Mark D B Eldridge

Daniel Falster

Laura Fernandez Winzer

Simon C Griffith

Joshua S Madin

Ajay Narendra

Mark Westoby

Martin J Whiting

Ian J Wright

Alexandra J R Carthey

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Trait databases have become important resources for large-scale comparative studies in ecology and evolution. Here we introduce the AnimalTraits database, a curated database of body mass, metabolic rate and brain size, in standardised units, for terrestrial animals. The database has broad taxonomic breadth, including tetrapods, arthropods, molluscs and annelids from almost 2000 species and 1000 genera. All data recorded in the database are sourced from their original empirical publication, and the original metrics and measurements are included with each record. This allows for subsequent data transformations as required. We have included rich metadata to allow users to filter the dataset. The additional R scripts we provide will assist researchers with aggregating standardised observations into species-level trait values. Our goals are to provide this resource without restrictions, to keep the AnimalTraits database current, and to grow the number of relevant traits in the future.

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