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 are Identification Qualifications (IdQs)?

Damselfly, 4kIn 1993 The Natural History Museum introduced the Identification Qualification (IdQ) scheme to address the shortfall in identification skills. The scheme aims to improve standards in environmental work in the UK by awarding certificates of competence in animal and plant identification to biologists and ecologists.

IdQs are not training courses but accreditation of existing identification skills. Qualification is by examination and the Museum is the awarding body. A wide variety of IdQ Units have been designed to relate as closely as possible to the way identifications are carried out in the workplace; therefore keys and guides, microscopes and dissections are permissible in most exams.

The pass mark is high (90%) but analyses based on data that is less accurate are of little value. Furthermore, candidates who achieve over 70% are awarded an intermediate certificate to encourage progressive acquisition of identification skills. Candidates who have achieved any level are entitled to discounts on further examinations.