First-of-its-kind global catalog of bird shapes yields ecological ‘gold mine’ | Science | AAAS

"Now, a team of 115 researchers from 30 countries, led by Sheard’s Ph.D. adviser, Imperial College London ecologist Joseph Tobias, has published anatomical measurements of all 11,009 living bird species—not just passerines such as robins, but everything from ducks and penguins to vultures and ostriches. “It’s a gold mine,” says geneticist Nancy Chen of the University of Rochester, who was not involved in the project.

The open-source data set, called AVONET, debuts this month in a special issue of Ecology Letters along with papers describing its value for studying bird evolution and ecology, as well as the impact of changes in climate and habitat on vulnerable species. “For the first time, we are gaining a global, quantitative perspective on bird biodiversity, which is really amazing,” says ecologist Brian Enquist of the University of Arizona...."