This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of the Spiders of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 1880 to present. SpiderMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Scorpions on the African continent. SpiderMAP is also an online repository for photographic species distribution records for this important group of arthropods. Spiders make up the largest proportion of terrestrial invertebrate diversity after the insects and the mites, and they play a significant role as predators in ecosystems. Several initiatives are currently under-way to map spider distributions, and SpiderMAP aims to complement these by encouraging submissions from the ADU Citizen Scientist community. Records will be directed to the South African National Survey of Arachnida once identified. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator, a professional arachnologist. Identification to species level is very high for the Theraphosidae (Baboon spiders), other groups are identified to genus or family level. All data, excepting records for sensitive taxa, are available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage is moderate for South Africa, but very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Birds with odd plumage of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 2003 to present. Birds with all sorts of unusual plumage variations are observed from time to time. Nowadays, with digital photography, pictures of these birds are frequently available. BOP (Birds with Odd Plumage) aims to provide a place where the photographs can be curated into one database. Any bird with any unusual plumage characteristic qualifies for inclusion in the virtual museum. This will provide the opportunity to look for patterns. Do certain species have abnormal plumage more frequently than others? Do unusual plumage patterns occur more in some places than in others? Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator. All data is available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage, as it would be expected for a specialist project, is very sparse for the whole of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Birds of the African continent. It is a collection of data from citizen science contributions. Records range from 1980 to present. BirdPix curates interesting and important photos of birds. There are no particular constraints on what can and cannot be submitted, apart from needing the locality and date information. It is an excellent place to deposit photos of species which are out of their normal ranges. For SABAP2 observers, it can be used to keep the photos of species for which “Out of Range Forms” were generated. For bird ringers, it can be used to store photos of birds in the hand which were for some reason interesting: for example, pictures showing unusual patterns of wing moult, plumage variation with age and sex, etc. Records submitted to BirdPix will be included in SABAP2 as incidental records for mapping bird distributions. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator. All data, excepting records for sensitive taxa, are available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. The coverage is moderate for South Africa, but very sparse for the rest of Africa.

This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Amphibians on the African continent, although the bulk of the data is for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (former Swaziland). FrogMAP aims to build on the distribution data collected during seven years of fieldwork (1996-2003), plus earlier data compiled from museum records, private collections, the literature, and conservation agencies. Records range from 1905 to present. FrogMAP is a Virtual Museum and citizen science project which aims to determine the distribution and conservation priorities of Amphibians on the African continent. FrogMAP is building the 21st century distribution maps for Africa's Amphibians. FrogMAP also aims to improve public awareness of the value and plight of Amphibians and also provide government agencies with a clear definition of conservation priorities that will help them to plan their activities. FrogMAP is the continuation of the Southern African Frog Atlas Project (SAFAP) and incorporates the full SAFAP database with the current taxonomy. SAFAP data was used for the 2003 red listing of all frog species of the region, the results were published in the book “Atlas and Red Data Book of the Frogs of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland”, published by the Smithsonian Institution, USA. Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator, a professional herpetologist. The data available to the public is the subset of shareable records (see Lineage for details), also, records for sensitive taxa are not available to the public. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. However, historical records were assigned to a 15x15 minute grid (or QDS) based on the locality description when no coordinates were provided. The coverage is good for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, but very sparse for the rest of Africa.