Taxacom: a class of errors in Worms (and similar databases)

[Markus Döring]

Hi Erikjan,

We have implemented exactly that in ChecklistBank:
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.checklistbank.org%2Fdataset%2F2011%2Ftaxon%2Furn%253Alsid%253Amarinespecies.org%253Ataxname%253A344099&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C9e01fe1e445e4c14b9d208dd551f7496%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638760315770982232%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0Xp0GiEZ%2BNW%2FYoKMlWIWMy%2B8OiYn9TwPG%2FymYW1Bz%2Fs%3D&reserved=0

You can then search for such names with the issue “published before genus":
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.checklistbank.org%2Fdataset%2F2011%2Fnames%3Fissue%3Dpublished%2520before%2520genus&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C9e01fe1e445e4c14b9d208dd551f7496%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638760315770998190%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0XFjyG3NC%2FqqNayG5Fl7%2BKirb4r57aBCK7UtAS88nVs%3D&reserved=0

Note that this also makes use of the year found in the publication metadata, not just the names authorship.
But for subsequent combinations sometimes the publication of the original combination is wrongly given which then raises a false flag.

You can avoid that by just looking at original names:
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.checklistbank.org%2Fdataset%2F2011%2Fnames%3Fissue%3Dpublished%2520before%2520genus%26field%3Dcombination%2520year&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C9e01fe1e445e4c14b9d208dd551f7496%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638760315771006437%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9xw7UQbQ8hg41JcB3YPl3AD9ZY3l8d9fO3oFRHKF%2Fl4%3D&reserved=0

This works not only for WoRMS, but any of the datasets in ChecklistBank:
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.checklistbank.org%2Fdataset&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C9e01fe1e445e4c14b9d208dd551f7496%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638760315771014251%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=yjzyJLyCp4vAG2PuJBpu31IqYAqJj2Z4NsNsm8EL%2BB8%3D&reserved=0


Best,

Markus Döring

— GBIF & Catalogue of Life



> On 23. Feb 2025, at 08:56, Erikjan Rijkers via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> This is a request to taxonomic database implementors/admins. The Worms database is just an example.
> 
> On page
>  https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marinespecies.org%2Faphia.php%3Fp%3Dtaxdetails%26id%3D344099&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C9e01fe1e445e4c14b9d208dd551f7496%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638760315771021991%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Sj9wPIad4uMqVxmyQq0taT4FgJcsKyGkK2OqDq%2B5%2BiE%3D&reserved=0
> 
> There is the species name and a genus name:
>  Papasula abbotti Ridgway, 1893
>  Papasula Olson & Warheit, 1988
> 
> These are, of course, literature references. Ridgway in 1893 described Sula abbotti [1]. It seems clear that parentheses are needed, like so:
>  Papasula abbotti (Ridgway, 1893)
> 
> The year of the genus being more recent than the species name, i.e., 1988 > 1893, already implied that parentheses are needed.
> 
> It seems to me such cases can be easily found automatically and changes could be made, perhaps also automatically, or at least flagged to the editor(s) concerned as a change that is probably needed.
> 
> Perhaps such changes or flagging could be implemented? It seems such a small and simple improvement.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Erikjan Rijkers
> 
> 
> [1] https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fpage%2F15780967&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C9e01fe1e445e4c14b9d208dd551f7496%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638760315771029717%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ozrt7YBbWMlaZYYX%2FwsJtudyoRoE3aAHw192lbAgxN4%3D&reserved=0
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