Catalogue of Life
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Cover of DVD version of database
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| Web address | catalogueoflife.org |
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| Commercial? | no |
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Type of site
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Taxonomic catalogue |
| Registration | not required |
| Available in | English |
| Launched | June 2001 |
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Alexa rank
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 672,656 (Feb 2015[update])[1] |
| Current status | active |
The Catalogue of Life, started in June 2001 by Species 2000 and Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), is planned to become a comprehensive catalogue of all known species of organisms on Earth. The Catalogue currently compiles data from 158 peer-reviewed taxonomic databases, that are maintained by specialist institutions around the world.[2] The Catalogue provides a dynamic edition, which is updated regularly (and in which data can change without tracking of those changes) and an Annual Checklist, which provides a dated, verifiable reference for the usage of names and associated data. Development of the Catalogue of Life was funded through the Species 2000 europa (EuroCat), 4d4Life and i4Life projects in 2003-2013.
The sixteenth edition of the catalogue lists 1.64 million species for all kingdoms as of April 2016, with coverage of well over three quarters of the estimated 1.9 million species known to science.[2]
Structure
The Catalogue of Life employs a simple data structure to provide information on synonymy, grouping within a taxonomic hierarchy, common names, distribution and ecological environment.[2]
Usage
Much of the use of the Catalogue is to provide a backbone taxonomy for other global data portals and biological collections. Through the i4Life project it has formal partnerships with Global Biodiversity Information Facility, European Nucleotide Archive, Encyclopedia of Life, European Consortium for the Barcode of Life, IUCN Red List, and Life Watch. The public interface includes both search and browse functions as well as offering multi lingual services.
See also
- Global biodiversity
- GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System ITIS
- Encyclopedia of Life
- World Register of Marine Species
- Macroscopic Observatory
- Wikispecies
- ARKive
References
Further reading
- Bisby FA, Roskov YR, Orrell TM, Nicolson D, Paglinawan LE, Bailly N, Kirk PM, Bourgoin T, Baillargeon G., eds (2009). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2009 Annual Checklist. Digital resource at [1]. Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- Blundell N (2005). There's more to life on Earth. Telegraph Online, 8 Dec 2005 (retrieved 2012-05-03).
External links
- Catalogue of Life: monthly updated editions
- 2016 Annual Checklist, 1,640,969 species
- 2015 Annual Checklist, 1,606,554 species
- 2014 Annual Checklist, 1,578,063 species
- 2013 Annual Checklist, 1,352,112 species
- 2012 Annual Checklist, 1,404,038 species
- 2011 Annual Checklist, 1,347,224 species
- 2010 Annual Checklist, 1,257,735 species
- 2009 Annual Checklist, 1,160,711 species
- 2008 Annual Checklist, 1,105,589 species
- 2007 Annual Checklist, 1,008,965 species
- 2006 Annual Checklist, 884,552 species
- 2005 Annual Checklist, 526,323 species
- A list of contributing databases
- Catalogue of Life Twitter
