Method and a device for identifying species of plants and/or animals and/or types of minerals, as well as parts of them or products made from them, as well as the location of their occurrence, in each instance.Proceeding from database systems already known from the state of the art, for identifying specific species of animals and/or plants, the invention creates a method and a device for identification, with which identification of species of animals and/or plants is made possible by means of mobile data display terminals (2), such as mobile telephones that communicate via the UMTS, GPRS, or word protocol, for a user (1) in the field, in that the characteristics necessary for identification of a concrete outward appearance are offered for selection, one after another, by way of a matrix of characteristics from a central database (5). The method for identification is optimized by means of a system of error correction. In addition, the location of occurrence can be identified using this device, and can be recorded for purposes of protecting the species and protecting nature.