Species Validity Search

Click to the links below and search for a genus and or species name. You will be given a range of links to check:

  • If the name is valid
  • If it is the current name
  • If the name is a synonymy
  • Plus a wide range of information about the species

Taxonomic nomenclature Search engines
uBio is an initiative within the science library community to join international efforts to create and utilize a comprehensive and collaborative catalog of known names of all living (and once-living) organisms. The Taxonomic Name Server (TNS) catalogs names and classifications to enable tools that can help users find information on living things using any of the names that may be related to an organism. uBio NameBank is a registry for all recorded taxon names and is similar to uBio. It stores and serves NameBankIDs via Life Science Identifiers, a persistent and distinct identifier. Each NameBank LSID returns a NameBank object which contains information about the NameBank record. uses web services to talk to source databases, extract data, and assemble a page for each species. NameBank
Nomenclator Zoologicus: A list of names of the genera and subgenera in Zoology from the Tenth edition of Linnaeus 1758 to the end of 2004. Nomenclator Zoologicus iSpecies uses web services to talk to source databases, extract data, and assemble a page for each species. iSpecies
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist is published each year as a fixed edition. ITIS Annual Checklist Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: Dynamic Checklist The Dynamic Checklist harvests taxonomic and hierarchical classification dynamically from the internet. ITIS Dynamic Checklist
UniProtKB Taxonomy Organisms are classified in a hierarchical tree structure. Our taxonomy database contains every node (taxon) of the tree. UniProtKB taxonomy data is manually curated: next to manually verified organism names, we provide a selection of external links, organism strains and viral host information. UniProtKB Taxonomy Integrated Taxonomic Information System ITIS Authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world. ITIS
PubMed is an archive of biomedical and life sciences journals. PubMed EOL - "Imagine an electronic page for each species of organism on Earth, available everywhere by single access on command." - Edward O. Wilson. EOL
NCBI - The National Center for Biotechnology Information provides an integrated approach to the use of gene and protein sequence information. NCBI NCBI Taxonomy Browser is an archive of biomedical and life sciences journals. NCBI Taxonomy Browser
Australian Faunal Directory provides taxonomic and biological information to the Australian fauna. AFD Antbase provides access to all the ant species of the world. Antbase
Australian Ants Online: This site is the source for information on Australian ants. Australian Ants AntWeb provides tools for exploring the diversity and identification of ants. Antweb
A Checklist of Australian Spiders This is Robert Raven's Australian version of the World Catalog. Spider Checklist The World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog is based largely on Roewer's volumes, with additions from Bonnet, Brignoli, Platnick's three catalog volumes, and recent literature. The World Spider Catalog
Fleas Taxonomy & Phylogeny Database containing taxonomy and phylogeny of Siphonaptera of the world. Fleas Taxonomy & Phylogeny The Australasian Arachnological Society See for various family treatments. AAS
Electronic Catalogue of Weevil names (Curculionoidea) Currently the database contains some 70.000 names, including all generic and family-group names, in their current taxonomic position. WTaxa Orthoptera Species File Online (OSF) A taxonomic database of the world's Orthoptera (grasshoppers, locusts, katydids, crickets). It contains full synonymic and taxonomic information for over 23,000 valid species and over 38,000 taxonomic names (all ranks, valid and not valid). There are over 124,000 citations to references. OSF
2001 Systematic Catalogue of Culicidae Database containing taxonomy and distribution of Culicidae of the world. Catalogue of Culicidae Butterflies and Moths of the World : Generic Names and their Type-species A catalogue of the genus-group names and type-species of Lepidoptera, with a bibliography and images of representative species of each family. OSF
ChiloBase: Includes all genus-group (genus, subgenus) and species-group (species, subspecies) taxa described up to the end of 2005 and currently regarded as valid. ChiloBase Millipedes of Australia: Checklist of the described species of millipedes native to Australia. Millipedes of Australia
BioMaps: A gateway to Australian biodiversity data held by Natural History Institutions. BioMaps GBIF: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility is a coordinated international scientific effort to enable users throughout the world to discover and put to use vast quantities of global biodiversity data, thereby advancing scientific research in many disciplines, promoting technological and sustainable development, facilitating the equitable sharing of the benefits of biodiversity, and enhancing the quality of life of members of society. GBIF
Universal Chalcidoidea Database: Contains - About chalcidoids; Images Morphology, Taxonomy and terminology; Key to families Family; Collecting and Preserving; and Search the database. Universal Chalcidoidea Database   Hymenoptera Name Server: The goal of the Hymenoptera Name Server is provide a unique mode of presentation of information on the names of organisms. Hymenoptera Name Server
The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera (BDWD) is a source of names and information about those names and the taxa to which they apply. Nomenlator Hymenoptera Online Database Hymenoptera Online
Fishbase Global Information System on fishes containing species info and taxonomy of fishes of the world. Fishbase WoRMS to provide an authoritative list of names of all marine species globally, ever published. WoRMS
Mammalian Species Systematic List Mammalian Species is published, on line, regularly by the American Society of Mammalogists with 20-30 new accounts issued each year. Mammalian Species Systematic List Mammal species of the world (MSW) Contains the names of the 4,629 currently recognized species of mammals, in a taxonomic hierarchy that includes Order, Family, Subfamily, and Genus. MSW
VertNet Currently, across four portals, there are 71 unique institutions globally with 55 more in progress, together sharing over 34 million vertebrate records online. VertNet    
The EMBL Reptile database Database containing species info and taxonomy of reptiles of the world. Reptile database AmphibiaWeb Database containing species info and taxonomy of amphibians of the world. AmphibiaWeb
HerpNET HerpNET is a collaborative effort by natural history museums to establish a global network of herpetological collections. HerpNET MaNIS Mammal Networked Information System. The original objectives of MaNIS were to 1) facilitate open access to combined specimen data from a web browser, 2) enhance the value of specimen collections, 3) conserve curatorial resources, and 4) use a design paradigm that can be easily adopted by other disciplines with similar needs. MaNIS
Amphibian Species of the World 3.0 an Online Reference Amphibian Species of the World Cephbase database-driven web site on all living Cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus), photographs, references. Cephbase
Fauna Europaea is working towards a database of all European land and fresh-water animals. Fauna Europaea EUNIS biodiversity database - find species, habitats and sites across Europe. EUNIS
LPSN List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature. LPSN TROPICOS All of the nomenclatural, bibliographic, and specimen data accumulated in MBG’s electronic databases during the past 25 years are publicly available here. This system has over one million scientific names and 3.5 million specimen records. TROPICOS
Botanical Search engines
Australian Plant Name Index - APNI is a database of the names and associated basic bibliographical details of seed plants, ferns and fern allies. APNI The International Plant Names Index - IPNI indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats. IPNI
Australia's Virtual Herbarium - AVH is an on-line botanical information resource accessible via the web. AVH IBIS IBIS incorporates systems for the integration, retrieval and disemination of biodiversity information; collections management (ALIVE, ANHSIR, APII); digital asset management; nomenclatural and taxonomic indices (APNI, APC); information delivery (www.anbg|cpbr.gov.au); web services (flora-online) and; federated database support (AVH, IPNI, GBIF).  
Broad scientific Search engines
TRIN The Taxonomy Research & Information Network (TRIN) will address critical gaps in taxonomic knowledge of key Australian animal and plant groups. TRIN  
Scirus is a comprehensive science-specific search engine focused on scientific information. Scirus Google Scholar indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats. Google Scholar
Google Images Google Images Yahoo Images Yahoo Images
AnimalBase Early Zoological Literature Online AnimalBase Biology Browser (BIOSIS) BIOSIS provides resources - such as the Nomenclature Glossary for Zoology, the Zoological Record Thesaurus, and more - for free on BiologyBrowser. BIOSIS
GoBase GOBASE is a taxonomically broad organelle genome database that organizes and integrates diverse data related to organelles. GOBASE Global Names Architecture To build web services which integrate data from across many of the different web resources. GNA