Environmental Conservation cambridge.org/enc Research Paper Cite this article: Holmes B et al. (2022). Google Trends data reveal a sharp trend: teeth and claws attract more interest than feathers, hooves or fins. Environmental Conservation page 1 of 9. doi: 10.1017/S037689292200011X Received: 19 September 2021 Revised: 8 March 2022 Accepted: 9 March 2022 Keywords: Google Trends; representation index; search engine data; taxonomic bias; Vertebrata Author for Correspondence: Dr Michael Zieger, E-mail: Michael_Zieger@icloud.com © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Foundation for Environmental Conservation. Google Trends data reveal a sharp trend: teeth and claws attract more interest than feathers, hooves or fins Branden Holmes 1 , Artur Strzelecki 2 , Steffen Springer 3 and Michael Zieger 3 1 The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database, Two Rocks, Australia; 2 University of Economics in Katowice, Department of Informatics, Katowice, Poland and 3 SRH Wald-Klinikum Gera GmbH, Gera, Germany Summary In nature conservation, the generation of public interest, attention or emotions is an important instrument for nature, biotope and species protection; in this, charismatic flagship species play an important role. In the present study, flagship-making affiliation to a taxonomic unit as well as morphological, ecological and conservation traits were identified by analysing vertebrate species from each of the five extant vertebrate classes (Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia and fishes). Google Trends data on the 20 most Googled species of each of the five classes were used, a representation index was derived and the body mass, diet and protection status of these species were analysed. A clear concentration of interest in mammalian species was evident with the help of the introduced representation index. Furthermore, species with a higher body mass were clearly overrepresented in the data. Overall, important patterns in the studied traits were determined: belonging to Mammalia, a large body mass and a carnivorous diet are frequently represented among these species. For conservation purposes, such popular species can be specifically selected as flagship species or ambassadors to help protect entire biomes, which will therefore benefit less charismatic species as well. Possible ways to use traits that are perceived to be flagship-making in order to further the global conservation endeavour are briefly discussed. Introduction In approaching nature conservation, it is important to arouse public interest in a targeted manner in order to raise funds and otherwise advance projects (Colléony et al. 2017, Veríssimo et al. 2017). The positive effect of flagship species is discussed intensively in this context, with appeal and familiarity influencing public attention and linking positive emotions and attitudes to interest in conservation action (Veríssimo et al. 2011, Ducarme et al. 2013). ‘Charisma’ is a specific characteristic that has been identified as an important aspect of flagship species (Ducarme et al. 2013), and various studies have defined charismatic species for this purpose (Home et al. 2009, Ducarme et al. 2013, McGinlay et al. 2017, Veríssimo et al. 2017, Albert et al. 2018, Davies et al. 2018). A broader ‘flagship species’ concept also includes nature conservation marketing to strategically address the target audience (Veríssimo et al. 2011, Ducarme et al. 2013). Google Trends data can be used to evaluate the interests of the Internet-using population on a regional or global level based on search queries. These data have applications in many areas such as medical and economic analyses and, among other things, for biological and nature conser- vation applications (Zieger & Springer 2020, 2021). For example, available online data sources can be valuable indicators of public awareness of the value of biodiversity (Cooper et al. 2019). The evaluation of search engine queries, as made possible by Google Trends data, shows the search interests of the sampled population. Research has already been conducted using Google Trends to analyse interest in biodiversity, understanding of environmental risks and conservation issues (Proulx et al. 2014, Nghiem et al. 2016, Durmuşoğlu 2017, Troumbis 2017, Zieger & Springer 2021). In this study, data from Google Trends were used to analyse public interest in different verte- brate species with flagship potential and to identify and discuss traits shared by the most Googled species from the five vertebrate classes: Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia and fishes (i.e., Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes). The differential perception of species, depending on factors such as body size and charisma, not only leads to a myopic focus of the general public, but also affects scientific research; this is commonly referred to as ‘taxonomic bias’ (Donaldson et al. 2016, Troudet et al. 2017). Biodiversity research often focuses on a few species and ignores most of the remainder, which includes species that play a central role in the functioning of ecosystems, the study of which could yield a great deal of knowledge (Troudet et al. 2017). This bias can therefore weigh heavily on conservation efforts, with negative effects resulting from the overly narrow focus of scientific https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S037689292200011X Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Politechnika Gdańska, on 25 Mar 2022 at 15:37:53, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at