NOW

Species at Localities

As a guideline NOW uses the taxonomy of McKenna & Bell'sClassification of Mammals Above the Species Level, except for Muridae for which we use McKenna & Bell's classification with the modifications suggested by Hans de Bruijn.

The most common function performed in NOW is inputting taxon lists into localities. If the locality in question is not in NOW yet, please follow the instructions under Localities first. When entering taxon lists into a locality, the primary assumption is that all the species already exist in the database, and can be added into the locality with the 'Select species' function. For these species, please follow the rules and examples below.

However, in some cases, all of the species do not exist in the database yet, usually because they are informal or recently established species. For such species, use the 'Add new species' function, and follow the guidelines under Taxonomic Fields for correctly entering the taxonomic information of the new species. Then follow these instructions for the occurrence of taxa at the locality you are adding.

Fields

The fields explained below can be found in the Locality > Species tab for all species at a locality, and in the Species > Loc-Sp Info tab for all locality occurrences of a specific species.

ID Status	Indicates an uncertain identification and therefore an uncertain occurrence of the taxon at a particular locality so is an attribute of the species-locality relationship. Usually, the ID status is blank. Valid entries are: family id uncertain genus id uncertain species id uncertain
Additional Info	Additional Info field can be used to record locality related species information that cannot be recorded in any other field but might be important for other users to know: Taxonomic devices like 'cf.', 'aff.', 'ex gr.' no longer exist as such in the database, but have instead become attributes of individual occurrences of the taxon, indicated by ID status (or attributes of all instances of the taxon, indicated by taxonomic status). Use 'Additional Info' in these cases to record what was written in the original document 'Additional Info' can contain historical information, for example, 'Suidae indet. in older references' or 'previous ID S. splendens incorrect'. You can also enter subspecies names into the 'Additional Info' field (this is preferred over creating a new species entry with a subspecies in the 'Unique ID' field)
Source Name	This information should be recorded for localities where the reference literature lists a species with a junior synonym name. For example: Reference literature lists the species Listriodon mongoliensis present, but this taxon is recognized by the name of Listriodon splendens in the NOW database. In this case, the taxon will be listed as Listriodon splendens in the Locality species list, but Listriodon mongoliensis will be recorded in the 'Source Name' field. If a comment 'from merge' appears in the 'Source Name' field after the junior synonym name, this means it was automatically transferred there when two (or more) species were recognized as synonymous during taxonomic updates of the NOW database (and the locality in question listed the junior synonym name). NOTE:* Source Name field was added to NOW in December 2011, so this field will be empty in localities which have not been updated recently.
Other	This information can be added for localities where it is available - it is very valuable but optional: nis = number of identified specimens pct = percent quad = quadrate count mni = minimum number of individuals qu = qualitative

Examples – Species at Localities

The uncertain occurrence of a taxon

NOTE: ideally, where the identification of a taxon is uncertain (meaning the occurrence of the taxon at a certain locality is uncertain), it should not be entered in the database. However, when such taxa are entered for some good reason, this is the accepted style.

Species					Species At Locality
Family	Subfamily	Genus	Species	Unique	ID Status
Situation: uncertain occurrence of species at a locality May appear in literature as: Amphicyon cf. major, cf. Amphicyon major, Amphicyon aff. major, Amphicyon ex gr. major
Amphicyonidae	Amphicyoninae	Amphicyon	major	-	species id uncertain
Situation: uncertain occurrence of genus at a locality May appear in literature as: cf. Amphicyon sp., cf. Amphicyon indet., cf. Amphicyon, ? Amphicyon
Amphicyonidae	Amphicyoninae	Amphicyon	indet	-	genus id uncertain
Situation: uncertain occurrence of a family at a locality May appear in literature as: cf. Felidae indet. indet.
Felidae		indet.	indet.	-	family id uncertain

The uncertain occurrence of a taxon - Additional info

Additional Info field can be used to record information when there is uncertainty between two possible species at a locality.

Species				Species At Locality
Genus	Species	Unique	Taxonomic Status	Additional Info
Situation: Amphicyon major cf. steinheimensis in the literature - if the intention is species major or possibly species steinheimensis
Amphicyon	major	-	-	A. major cf. steinheimensis
Situation: Amphicyon major / steinheimensis in the literature - if the intention is species major or species steinheimensis (both as likely, neither is preferred)
Amphicyon	indet	-	-	A. major/steinheimensis
Situation: Uncertain genus, species unknown, Amphicyon/Cynelos indet in literature
indet	indet	-	-	Amphicyon/Cynelos indet

NOTE: In a few recognised cases, two similar but separate species may not be possible to tell apart (for example, not just from dental material). Where the taxon is thus indeterminate but limited to two known species, and this is a regular occurrence, the species may be entered into NOW as a new species entry. Please see an example under 'Proper use of Taxonomic fields'.

The uncertain occurrence of a taxon with uncertain taxonomic assignment

The fields explained below can be found in the Locality > Species tab for all species at a locality, and in the Species > Loc-Sp Info tab for all locality occurrences of a specific species.

Species				Species At Locality
Genus	Species	Unique	Taxonomic Status	ID Status
Situation: uncertain occurrence of species at a locality May appear in literature as: cf. Amphicyon cf. steinheimensis, ? Amphicyon aff. steinheimensis, "Amphicyon" ?steinheimensis
Amphicyon	steinheimensis	-	genus attrib of species uncertain	species id uncertain
Situation: uncertain occurrence of unnamed species at a locality Stockholm May appear in literature as: cf. Lynx sp.1
Lynx	sp.	Stockholm 1	informal species	species id uncertain

When a subspecies is listed for a taxon

Species				Species At Locality
Genus	Species	Unique	Taxonomic Status	Additional Info
Situation: a subspecies is listed for the species in the literature May appear in literature as: Amphicyon steinheimensis kurteni, Amphicyon steinheimensis arcticus, etc.
Amphicyon	steinheimensis	-	-	subspecies: kurteni
Situation: a possible subspecies is listed for the species in the literature May appear in literature as: Amphicyon steinheimensis cf. kurteni, Amphicyon steinheimensis cf. arcticus, etc.
Amphicyon	steinheimensis	-	-	subspecies: cf. kurteni

When a synonymous name is listed in the literature

Species				Species At Locality
Genus	Species	Unique	Taxonomic Status	Source Name
Situation: a synonymous name is listed for the species in the literature May appear in literature as: Rhinocerus mercki, which is listed as a synonym of Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis in NOW
Stephanorhinus	kirchbergensis	-	-	Rhinocerus mercki

Links to

References

McKenna, M.C. & Bell, S.K. 2000. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. i-xii, 1-631. Columbia University Press.

New and Old Worlds

Database of fossil mammals

Data Conventions - Species at Localities