Appropriate for advanced high school and college students, as well as working scientists, this intriguing guide is the first of three volumes that will chart the progress of a scientific inventory of New Zealand's live and fossil biodiversity. An international effort involving more than 220 New Zealand specialists, this project, when completed, will include every one of the almost 55,000 known species of animals, plants, fungi, and micro-organisms in the country. Part of ""Species 2000"", an international scientific project, the long-term goal is to enumerate all known species on earth into one seamless list called the ""Catalog of Life"", which will function as an online biological catalog. To date, only New Zealand has compiled a checklist of its entire biota.