Researchers have compiled over 154,000 records of camera trap images from the Amazon Rainforest, identifying 317 different bird, mammal, and reptile species.This is the first study at this scale to compile and standardize camera trap images from across the Amazon, and it includes Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.According to the authors, this camera trap data set allows for new studies on forest fragmentation, habitat loss, climate change, and human-caused animal loss "in one of the world's most important and threatened tropical environments."Wildlife crawls, hops, flies, and prowls through every nook and cranny of the world's largest rainforest. However, because most animals are good at hiding from humans, finding them can be difficult. Many researchers rely on camera traps to accomplish this, which are motion-sensing, often camouflaged cameras strategically placed throughout the forest.Scientists have been collecting camera trap images across the Amazon for decades, but the data has been dispersed until now. A group of researchers compiled over 154,000 camera trap images, capturing 317 species: 185 birds, 119 mammals, and 13 reptiles.The new data paper, published in the journal Ecology, was led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Friedrich Schiller University Jena and draws on records from 147 scientists representing 122 research institutions.(Left)...
