Atlas of Vertebrates Published

A five-volume atlas of vertebrate animals in Iran was unveiled on Saturday in Pardisan Park, where the Department of Environment is located, to familiarize people with basic knowledge of animals with backbones. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, of which currently about 64,000 species have been described. The atlas presents Iran's vertebrates in five categories: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and bony fishes. Prepared as visual guides, "the books help us raise public awareness and prepare the ground for effective cooperation between people and environment authorities" to protect animals, IRNA quoted Seyyed Majid Kharrazian Moqaddam, the head of Biodiversity and Wildlife Office at DOE, as saying.