General Information
This page aims to bring together in one place significant internet resources in the following areas:
- Systematic treatments of major groups, or significant sub-groups within them
- Searchable databases of species names, where available
- Other taxonomy-related information such as synonymies, descriptions, illustrations, etc., where applied across more than just a few species of a group
- Any checklists, etc. of particular relevance to organisms in the Australian region
- Other sites with more comprehensive listings for the group in question.
This site concentrates almost entirely on web accessible resources (web sites, searchable databases, and in a few cases only, online pdfs of a small number of key documents); for print resources, the relevant Wikipedia ® pages and Google ® searches should provide up-to-date entries into the literature, with pre-formatted links accessible via the following buttons: 
and 
.
This page is an update of the "Taxonomic Resources" page maintained at this location over the period 1998-2002, updated with most recent content as at June 2009 onwards. (NB: Update currently in progress, new links are being added as at June-July 2009).
Please note that the most current URL for this page is http://www.cmar.csiro.au/datacentre/taxonomy/mainlist.htm, not http://www.marine.csiro.au/datacentre/taxonomy/mainlist.htm - click the link provided if you are not already on the "www.cmar.csiro.au" version. Also please note, this page is intended to be viewed as part of a frameset for improved navigation. If a left hand scrollable navigation pane is not visible, click here to view the full frameset.
1. General Biology / General Zoology
- The Index to Organism Names (ION) maintained by Thomson Reuters in the UK
- uBio (Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer) developed by MBL in the USA
- The Global Names Index (GNI), a project sponsored by Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) and GBIF, with many collaborators
- The Catalogue of Life 2009 global checklist, a collaboration between Species 2000 and ITIS
- The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
- The Encyclopedia of Life project (EOL)
- The Tree of Life web project
- GBIF - The Global Biodiversity Information Facility - access to distribution and name data on many species from multiple data sources
- The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) - access to distribution data on marine species from multiple data sources
- The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) - intending to list all approx. 230,000 marine taxa
- SeaLifeBase - an online reference source for many non-vertebrate marine species
- The Census of Marine Zooplankton website
- The Zooplankton Project from the USA - focusing on freshwater zooplankton
- The NCBI Taxonomy Browser (also supports GenBank)
- The UCMP Web Lift to Taxa including information on Systematics, Fossil Record, and more
- The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Taxonomy Browser for barcode data held
- The World Biodiversity Database (WBD) from ETI, Netherlands
- Neave's Nomenclator Zoologicus online search - originally a printed compilation of genus names for most animal species published between 1758 and approx. 2004
- Sherborn's Index Animalium online search - originally a printed compilation of genus and species names for most animal species published between 1758 and approx. 1850
- Animal Phyla List (with linked species lists for a number of groups) from Joel Hallan's "Biology Catalog" project in the USA
- CU*STAR - a compilation of names for all life, last updated 2006
- The Taxonomicon (incorporating Systema Naturae 2000) - taxonomic compilation based in the Netherlands
- eutree - ATOL collaborative project "Assembling the Tree of Eukaryotic Diversity" (with emphasis on protists)
- The IUCN Red List - comprehensive information source and maps for threatened species of the world
- ZooBank - The [Prototype] Official Online Registry for Zoological Nomenclature
- IRMNG - the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera - attempting to be a comprehensive genera listing for animals, plants, fungi, protozoa, bacteria, etc., maintained at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research
Palaeontology - general and fossil animals:
Trees of life, etc.:
- Three-domain Tree of Life - apparently redrawn from Baldauf et al., ch. 4 in Cracraft & Donoghue, 2004
- Hillis, Zwickl & Gutell "Circle of Life" tree - based on RNA sequence data for around 3,000 taxa
- Neal Olander's "Tree of Life" image / poster
- Tree of Life from Science Magazine, 2003 (Article by Elizabeth Pennisi)
- Static and Interactive Tree of Life from EMBL, Germany (with main emphasis on bacterial portion)
- An educational Great Tree of Life illustration by Leonard Eisenberg, 2008
- A molecular-based Tree of Life (SVG file) on Wikimedia Commons
- Haeckel's Tree of Life (1879) (SVG file) on Wikimedia Commons
- US Botanic Gardens Tree of Life - plants only
- A partial Angiosperm Tree of Life, from Florida Museum of Natural History, USA (also given again below, under "Angiosperms")
Significant regional on-line treatments, etc.:
Significant online papers covering biological classification in general:
2. Class Mammalia
3. Class Aves
4. Class Reptilia
5. Class Amphibia
6. "Superclass" Pisces
- FishBase, global information system on Fishes
- Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes, searchable online database of fish genus and species names and associated information, also offers search by family
- The system of classification for Vertebrata and Hyperotreti (= hagfishes) used by the Tree of Life web project
- Subphylum Vertebrata and Myxini (unranked) on the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web
- The Fish Barcode of Life (FISH-BOL) Checklist for Fishes of the World
(taxonomy follows FishBase/Eschmeyer)
- NEODAT - Inter-Institutional Database of Fish Biodiversity in the Neotropics
- The All Catfish Species Inventory from the Florida Museum of Natural History and partners
- Vertebrata (including most "fish" classes) on the Palaeos web site
- List of Pisces links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Subphylum Vertebrata / Phylum Chordata (including "fish" classes) in ITIS, Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon
- IRMNG genera list - entry points for Acanthodii, Actinopterygii, Agnatha, Cephalaspidomorphi, Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes, Ostracodermi, Pisces (unallocated), Placodermi, Pteraspidomorphi and Sarcopterygii
7. Class † Conodonta
- Fossil Conodonts page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- Conodonts treatment on the Palaeos site
- The system of classification for Euconodonta used by the Tree of Life web project
- Conodonta on the Palaeos web site
- List of Conodonta links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Subclass Conodonta in The Taxonomicon
- IRMNG genera list - entry point for Conodonta
8. Cephalochordata
9. Urochordata (=Tunicata)
10. † Vetulicolia
11. Hemichordata: Enteropneusta and Pterobranchia
12. Hemichordata: † Graptolithina
13. Echinodermata
14. Xenoturbellida
15. Arthropoda: Hexapoda (Insects and allies)
Please note, many of the databases below for Insects are also described (with additional detail) on the "sources" page for the Catalogue of Life, from which a subset of these links are taken.
- The system of classification for Hexapoda used by the Tree of Life web project
- Subphylum Hexapoda on the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web
- Insecta plus Hexapoda on Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog site (USA)
- The All Leps Barcode of Life Project - Lepidoptera
- The African Insect Taxonomy Toolkit - all groups
- Antbase - Ants site from the American Museum of Natural History and the Ohio State University
- AntWeb - Ants site including many images
- ASF: Aphid Species File - Aphids and allied groups
- Bark and Wood Boring Beetles of the World website
- Blackflies.info - taxonomy and systematics of the Simuliidae
- BDWD: BioSystematic Database of World Diptera (the Diptera site) - Flies, mosquitoes, bots, midges and gnats
- BSF: Blattodea Species File Online - Cockroaches
- Butterflies and Moths of the World - Generic Names and their Type-species, from the Natural History Museum, UK
- CCW: Catalogue of Craneflies of the World - Craneflies
- Checklist of the Collembola of the World - Springtails
- CIPA: Computer Aided Identification of Phlebotomine sandflies of Americas - Sandflies
- Coleoptera Home Page - includes links to a number of global and regional checklists
- COOL: Cercopoidea Organised On Line - Froghoppers
- The Diapriidae - parasitic wasps
- Diplura on the Tree of Life web project
- Order Diplura on the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web
- The (new) Diptera site
- EDIS: Entomological Data Information System - from Germany, covering many insect groups
- Endopterygota (Holometabola) Insects - site under construction
- The Fleas Taxonomy and Phylogeny - from Russia
- FLOW: Fulgoromorpha Lists On the WEB - Planthoppers
- Fungus Gnats Online - superfamily Sciaroidea
- GloBIS (GART): Global Butterfly Information System (families so far: swallowtails and whites)
- ITIS Bees: World Bee Checklist - Bees
- The World Bee Checklist Working Group site
- LepIndex: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index - Butterflies and moths
- Mantodea Species File Online - Praying mantids
- The Mantis Study Group website
- Milichiidae Online - Freeloader flies
- The Mosquito Taxonomic Inventory website - family Culicidae
- Neuropterida Species of the World - Lacewings, antlions, owlflies, fishflies, dobsonflies & snakeflies
- The Nymphalidae Forum website - a butterfly family
- Odonata: Catalogue of the Odonata of the World - Dragonflies and damselflies
- Orthoptera Species File Online - Grasshoppers, locusts, katydids, crickets
- Parhost: World Database of Fleas - Fleas
- Phasmida Species File - Stick and leaf insects
- Home page of the Phasmid Study Group(PSG)
- Plecoptera Species File Online - Stoneflies
- Protura on the Tree of Life web project
- Order Protura on the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web
- Psyl'list: Psylloidea database - Jumping plant lice
- ScaleNet: Systematic Database of the Scale Insects of the World - Scale insects
- Scarabs: World Scarabaeidae Database - Scarab beetles
- The Scarabaeinae Research Network - Scarab beetles
- Sharpshooter Leafhoppers of the World - Cicadellidae (subfamily Cicadellinae), from the National Museum of Wales
- The Termites of the World website
- Tineidae NHM: Global Taxonomic Database of Tineidae (Lepidoptera) - Clothes-moths
- TITAN: Cerambycidae database - Longhorn beetles, timber beetles
- The Trichoptera World Checklist - Caddis flies
- UCD: Universal Chalcidoidea Database - Chalcidoid wasps
- World Gracillariidae: Global Taxonomic Database of Gracillariidae - Gracillariid moths
- WTaxa: Electronic Catalogue of Weevil names (Curculionoidea) - Weevils
- ZOBODAT: Zoological-Botanical Database (Vespoidea) - Vespid wasps
- List of Insecta links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Subphylum Hexapoda / Phylum Arthropoda (including "hexapod" classes) / Superclass Panhexapoda in ITIS, Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon
- IRMNG genera list - entry point for Insecta and Entognatha (for Collembola, Diplura, and Protura)
16. Arthropoda: Chelicerata
17. Arthropoda: Crustacea
- The system of classification for Crustacea used by the Tree of Life web project
- Subphylum Crustacea on the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web
- Crustacea.net website from the Australian Museum
- The World of Copepods Database accessible via WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species
- The Diversity and Geographic Distribution of Marine Planktonic Copepods website and database, from France
- The World List of Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Isopod Crustaceans accessible via WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species
- The World Remipedia Database accessible via WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species
- NeMys - information system on marine Nematodes and Mysids, from the University of Gent, Belgium
- Fossil Ostracods page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- Crustacea on the Palaeos web site
- List of Crustacea links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Subphylum Crustacea / Phylum Arthropoda (including "crustacean" classes) / Infraphylum Crustaceomorpha in ITIS, Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon
- IRMNG genera list - entry point for Branchiopoda, Cephalocarida,
Conchyliocarida, Crustacea (unallocated), Malacostraca, Maxillopoda, Ostracoda and Remipedia
18. Arthropoda: Myriapoda
19. Arthropoda: † Trilobitomorpha / Trilobita
20. Priapulida (= Priapula)
21. Loricifera
22. Kinorhyncha
23. Nematomorpha
24. Nematoda (=Nemata)
- The system of classification for Nematoda used by the Tree of Life web project
- Phylum Nematoda on the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web
- NeMys - information system on marine Nematodes and Mysids, from the University of Gent, Belgium
- Nematoda on Joel Hallan's Biology Catalog site (USA)
- List of Nematoda links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Phylum Nematoda / Nemata in ITIS, Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon
- IRMNG genera list - entry point for Nematoda
25. Tardigrada
26. Onychophora
27. Gastrotricha
28. Chaetognatha
29. Phoronida
30. Bryozoa (=Ectoprocta)
31. Brachiopoda
32. Annelida (considered here to also include Echiura, Pogonophora, Vestimentifera)
33. Gnathostomulida
34. Sipuncula (=Sipunculida)
35. Mollusca
36. Nemertea (= Nemertina, Nemertinea)
37. Platyhelminthes
38. † Hyolitha
39. † "Phylum" Agmata
40. Entoprocta (=Kamptozoa)
41. Cycliophora
42. Acanthocephala
43. Rotifera
44. Micrognathozoa
45. "Mesozoa" (Phyla Rhombozoa and Orthonectida)
46. Ctenophora
47. Cnidaria (=Coelenterata)
48. Myxozoa
49. Porifera
50. † Archaeocyatha
51. Placozoa
52. † Vendobionta
53. † Trilobozoa
54. † Chitinozoa
55. Protozoa / Protists (excluding "Algae")
- The system of classification for Eukaryotes used by the Tree of Life web project, including links for Choanoflagellates, Filasterea, Lobosea, Cercozoa, Alveolates, Stramenopiles, Euglenozoa, Heterolobosea, Jakobida, Fornicata and Protists of uncertain placement
- An Amoebae page by Sutherland K. Maciver, Edinburgh
- An Ciliophora, website for ciliated protozoa
- Fossil Foraminifera page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- Foraminifera Links (with emphasis on fossils) maintained by the UK British Micropalaentological Society
- Hypotrichida (Ciliates) page from Peter Eigner, Austria, including this frehwater ciliate diversity chart by B.J. Finlay and G.F. Esteban
- micro*scope, website for microbes sens. lat. (including many protists)
- The Protist Information Server from Japan
- Fossil Radiolaria page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- Radiolaria.org, online database of Recent and fossil Radiolarians
- Adl et al., 2005: The New Higher Level Classification of Eukaryotes with Emphasis on the Taxonomy of Protists - .pdf file
- eutree - ATOL collaborative project "Assembling the Tree of Eukaryotic Diversity" (with emphasis on protists)
- List of Protozoa links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Kingdom Protozoa in ITIS, Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon
- IRMNG genera list - entry point for Protozoa (NB protozoan higher classification is provisional at present time, to be further adjusted in due course)
56. Animalia - miscellaneous including fossil Problematica and other groups
57. General Botany
- Index Nominum Genericorum, a comprehensive online database of Botanical genus names maintained at the Smithsonian Institution in the USA
- The International Plant Names Index (IPNI), a database of genus and species names of plants, ferns and fern allies (a collaboration between The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and the Australian National Herbarium)
- TROPICOS - comprehensive database on New World Tropical plants,including more than 1 million scientific names, maintained at the Missouri Botanic Garden, USA
- Botanicus - portal to historic botanical literature from the Missouri Botanical Garden Library, with over 1 million pages online
- eFloras.org - portal to digital floras from a growing number of countries worldwide
- GRIN Taxonomy for Plants - Germplasm Resources Information Network online database (with emphasis on economic plants and their relatives)
- Index Nominum Supragenericorum Plantarum Vascularium - aiming to capture all valid and legitimate extant vascular plants names above the rank of genus, a collaboration between the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, the University of Maryland, and Cornell University
- Database of Names in Current Use for Extant Plant Genera, hosted at the Berlin Botanical Garden and Museum, Germany
- The IOPI Global Plant Checklist operated by the International Organization for Plant Information
- The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families from Kew, UK - concentrating on selected angiosperm and gymnosperm families at the present time
- The Virtual Library of Botany / Plant Biology - extensive page of Botanical links
Palaeobotany and Palynology:
Significant regional on-line treatments, etc.:
- The U.S. National Plants database, covering the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories
- Flora Europaea, searchable online database based on the published volumes
- Euro+Med PlantBase, database and information system for the vascular plants of Europe and the Mediterranean region
- The ABRS Flora of Australia Online, the Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) and the Australian Plant Census (APC)
- W3TROPICOS - access to a large number of international floral checklists and databases, hosted at the Missouri Botanic Garden, USA
58. Angiosperms (see also selected links under "General Botany")
- The 2009 APG III classification for Angiosperms
- The system of classification for Angiosperms used by the Tree of Life web project
- Angiosperm Phylogeny website, online searchable database hosted at Missouri Botanic Garden
- Concordance of Angiosperm Family Names, by James L. Reveal, USA
- The families of flowering plants, interactive keys by Watson, and Dallwitz, 1992 onwards
- A partial Angiosperm Tree of Life, from Florida Museum of Natural History, USA
- The Flowering Plant Gateway - overview of the Cronquist, Takhtajan, Thorne, and APG systems of classification, from the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group, USA
- List of Angiospermae links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Division / Phylum Magnoliophyta / Class Magnoliopsida in ITIS, Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon (also Liliopsida)
- IRMNG genera list - entry point for Magnoliophyta (Angiosperms)
Selected information by family or other group etc.:
59. Gymnosperms (see also selected links under "General Botany")
60. Ferns and allies (see also selected links under "General Botany")
61. Bryophyta
62. Algal groups (for Cyanophyta, see Bacteria)
- The system of classification for Eukaryotes used by the Tree of Life web project, including links for the following "algal" groups (in whole or in part): Green plants (inluding Chlorophyta, Charophyta), Rhodophyta, Cercozoa, Alveolates, Eukaryotes, Eukaryotes, Stramenopiles, Cryptomonads, and Euglenozoa
- Acritarchs and Chitinozoa page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- AlgaeBase, a comprehensive online database of Algae maintained by Michael Guiry in Ireland
- The ANSP Algae Image Database from the USA (freshwater diatoms and other river and stream algae)
- Fossil Calcareous nannoplankton page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- Nannotax - Calacareous nannofossil taxonomy and biostratigraphy site (with emphasis on fossils) maintained by the UK British Micropalaentological Society and International Nannoplankton Association
- Fossil Diatoms page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- Fossil Dinoflagellates page on the UCL Miracle micropalaentological web site
- www.dinophyta.org, dinoflagellate website from Germany
- Searchable version of Duxbury's Database of Cretaceous dinoflagellate cysts from the Natural History Museum, UK
- Index Nominum Algarum, index of algal names maintained by P. Silva in the USA
- www.seaweed.ie, seaweed website from Michael Guiry in Ireland
- micro*scope, website for microbes sens. lat. (including phytoplankon)
- plankton*net, website for plankton sens. lat. (including many phytoplankon species)
- List of Algae links on the Thomson Reuters BiologyBrowser site
- Kingdom Plantae (including selected algal groups) in ITIS, Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon
- Division Chromista (including selected algal groups) in Catalogue of Life and The Taxonomicon
- IRMNG genera list - entry point for Acritarcha, Algae (unallocated), Bacillariophyta, Chlorarachniophyta, Chlorophyta, Chrysophyta, Cryptophyta, Dinophyta, Euglenophyta, Glaucophyta, Haptophyta, Heterokonta (unallocated), Phaeophyta, Raphidophyta, Rhodophyta, and Xanthophyta.
63. Fungi and Lichens
Lichens (formal classification is as lichen-forming fungi):
64. Prokaryota (Archaea and Bacteria, including Cyanobacteria)
65. Viruses
Other Resources
There are also a number of useful jumping-off points for other taxonomic information on the internet worth a look, including the following:
About this page
This page was started in May 1998 as a guide to internet resources useful for checking species names and the higher classification of taxa, in relation to the ongoing development of the Division's Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota (CAAB) system. It was created and is maintained by Tony Rees from the CSIRO Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research Data Centre in Hobart, Australia. Notification of additional taxonomic resources or corrections, etc. are welcome (e-mail to Tony.Rees@csiro.au). Information on additional research and development activities at the CMAR Data Centre is available here. Please add a link to this page from your own site if you find it useful, and note that the most current URL for this page is http://www.cmar.csiro.au/datacentre/taxonomy/mainlist.htm, not http://www.marine.csiro.au/datacentre/taxonomy/mainlist.htm .
This document last modified: 10 November 2009 (ajr)
