Mirounga leonina, southern elephant seal. Although seals spend a lot of time in the water, they evolved from a land-dwelling ancestor over 25 million years ago and still have to come back on land to breed.

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Identification qualifications

What IdQ exams are available?

Freshwater | Marine and Coastal | Terrestrial | Invertebrates | Vertebrates | Botanical Groups (vascular plants)

IdQs are not training courses but accreditation by examination of existing identification skills. We offer a range of exams to cover most UK ecosystems and taxa.

The structure and cost are dependent upon the taxa being examined. You will need to download the information file for each examination unit you are interested in. (These are in pdf format so you will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer to view these files.)

The files describe the exam syllabus, how the exam will be carried out, the level to which identifications are required, and any conditions under which the examination is undertaken. They also make recommendations for keys and guides and many list the groups that may be included.

If you are interested in a group not listed then do let us know. If there is sufficient need we can explore establishing a new exam.