Taxon DRAFT Profile

Version: 0.7-DRAFT (09 June 2020)

Bioschemas profile for describing a biological taxon

If you spot any errors or omissions with this type, please file an issue in our GitHub.

Description Contributors Links

Contributors

The following people have been involved in the creation of this specification document. They are all members of the Biodiversity group.

Group Leader(s)

Franck Michel

Leyla Garcia

Other team members

Schema.org hierarchy

This Profile fits into the schema.org hierarchy as follows:

Thing > Taxon

Description

This profile aims to denote a taxon by common properties such as its scientific name, taxonomic rank and vernacular names. It is also a means to link to existing taxonomic registers where each taxon has a URI.
Changes in 0.7:

Use of identifier to add the taxon id within well known authorities (NCBI id, GBIF id, EoL id etc.)
Add property isBasedOn
Add properties scientificName and alternateScientificName to link the Taxon to TaxonName instances

Latest profiles

Latest release: 0.6-RELEASE

Latest draft: 0.7-DRAFT

Previous profiles

Previous version: 0.6-RELEASE

Previous release: 0.6-RELEASE

Group	Use Cases	Cross Walk	Task & Issues	Examples	Live Deploys
Biodiversity

You can read the release version of this specification here.

Key to specification table

Schema.org properties where the Expected Types have been changed, or new (i.e., Bioschemas created) properties/types are green.

Schema.org properties/types are red.

Pending Schema.org properties/types are blue.

External (i.e., from 3rd party ontology) properties/types are black.

CD = Cardinality

View all examples

//Property: additionalType
"@context": [
      "http://schema.org",
      { "dwc": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/" }
  ],
"@type" : "Taxon",
"additionalType": "dwc:Taxon"



//Property: alternateName
{
    "alternateName": "Balaena albicans Muller, 1776"
}


//Property: alternateScientificName
"alternateScientificName": [
    {   "@type" : "TaxonName",
        "name": "Balaena albicans",
        "author": "Muller, 1776"
    },
    {   "@type" : "TaxonName",
        "name": "Beluga catodon",
        "author": "Gray, 1846"
    }
]


//Property: childTaxon
"@type" : "Taxon",
"name": "Delphinapterus",
"taxonRank" : [ "WD:Q34740",  "genus" ],
"childTaxon": { 
    "@type": "Taxon",
    "name": "Delphinapterus leucas",
    "taxonRank" : [ "WD:Q7432",  "species" ]
}


//Property: dwc:vernacularName
"dwc:vernacularName": [
    { "@language": "en", "@value": "Beluga Whale" },
    { "@language": "fr", "@value": "Bélouga" }
]


//Property: identifier
"identifier": [
    { 
        "@type": "PropertyValue",
        "name": "TAXREF id",
        "propertyID": "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P3186",
        "value": "60932"
    },
    { 
        "@type": "PropertyValue",
        "name": "WoRMS id",
        "propertyID": "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P850",
        "value": "137115"
    }
]


//Property: isBasedOn
"isBasedOn": {
    "@type": "ScholarlyArticle",
    "name": "The taxonomic status of the nominal dolphin species Delphinus tropicalis Van Bree, 1971",
    "author": [ "Jefferson, T.A.", "Van Waerebeek, K." ],
    "datePublished": "2002",
    "pageStart": "787",
    "pageEnd": "818",
    "isPartOf": {
        "@type": "PublicationIssue",
        "issueNumber": "4",
        "isPartOf": {
            "@type": "PublicationVolume",
            "name": "Marine Mammal Science",
            "volumeNumber": "18"
        }
    }
}


//Property: name
{
    "name": "Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)"
}


//Property: parentTaxon
"parentTaxon": { 
    "@type": "Taxon",
    "@id": "WD:Q16628343",
    "name": "Delphinapterus",
    "taxonRank" : [ "WD:Q34740",  "genus" ]
}


//Property: sameAs
"sameAs": [
    "http://eol.org/pages/328541",
    "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beluga_whale",
    "http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/details/species/id/6850357",
    "http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6335"
]


//Property: scientificName
"scientificName": {
    "@type" : "TaxonName",
    "name": "Delphinapterus leucas",
    "author": "(Pallas, 1776)",
    "taxonRank": "species"
}


//Property: taxonRank
"taxonRank": [
  "http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/TaxonRank#Species",
  "http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7432",
  "species"
]

Property	Expected Type	Description	CD	Example
Marginality: Minimum.
name	Text	Schema: The name of the item. Bioschemas: Currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) name for that taxon, with authorship and date information if known.	ONE	View ≪name≫ example Property ≪name≫ example `{ "name": "Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)" }`
taxonRank	PropertyValue Text URL	Schema: The taxonomic rank of this taxon given preferably as a URI from a controlled vocabulary (e.g. the ranks from TDWG TaxonRank ontology or equivalent Wikidata URIs)	MANY	View ≪taxonRank≫ example Property ≪taxonRank≫ example `"taxonRank": [ "http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/TaxonRank#Species", "http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7432", "species" ]`
Marginality: Recommended.
parentTaxon	Taxon Text URL	Schema: Closest parent taxon of the taxon in question. Inverse property: childTaxon Bioschemas: Direct, most proximate higher-rank parent taxon	ONE	View ≪parentTaxon≫ example Property ≪parentTaxon≫ example `"parentTaxon": { "@type": "Taxon", "@id": "WD:Q16628343", "name": "Delphinapterus", "taxonRank" : [ "WD:Q34740", "genus" ] }`
scientificName	TaxonName	Schema: A TaxonName representing the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) name for that taxon	ONE	View ≪scientificName≫ example Property ≪scientificName≫ example `"scientificName": { "@type" : "TaxonName", "name": "Delphinapterus leucas", "author": "(Pallas, 1776)", "taxonRank": "species" }`
url	URL	Schema: URL of the item. Bioschemas: Link to the webpage associated to this taxon	ONE
Marginality: Optional.
additionalType	URL	Schema: An additional type for the item, typically used for adding more specific types from external vocabularies in microdata syntax. This is a relationship between something and a class that the thing is in. In RDFa syntax, it is better to use the native RDFa syntax - the ‘typeof’ attribute - for multiple types. Schema.org tools may have only weaker understanding of extra types, in particular those defined externally. Bioschemas: A Taxon type from a well known vocabulary, e.g. DarwinCore http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/Taxon or http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/TaxonConcept#TaxonConcept	MANY	View ≪additionalType≫ example Property ≪additionalType≫ example `"@context": [ "http://schema.org", { "dwc": "http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/" } ], "@type" : "Taxon", "additionalType": "dwc:Taxon"`
alternateName	Text	Schema: An alias for the item. Bioschemas: Scientific name, with authorship and date information if known, of a synonym of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) name.	MANY	View ≪alternateName≫ example Property ≪alternateName≫ example `{ "alternateName": "Balaena albicans Muller, 1776" }`
alternateScientificName	TaxonName	Schema: A TaxonName representing a scientific name, with authorship and date information if known, of a synonym of the currently valid (zoological) or accepted (botanical) name	MANY	View ≪alternateScientificName≫ example Property ≪alternateScientificName≫ example `"alternateScientificName": [ { "@type" : "TaxonName", "name": "Balaena albicans", "author": "Muller, 1776" }, { "@type" : "TaxonName", "name": "Beluga catodon", "author": "Gray, 1846" } ]`
childTaxon	Taxon Text URL	Schema: Closest child taxa of the taxon in question. Inverse property: parentTaxon Bioschemas: Direct, most proximate lower-rank child taxa	MANY	View ≪childTaxon≫ example Property ≪childTaxon≫ example `"@type" : "Taxon", "name": "Delphinapterus", "taxonRank" : [ "WD:Q34740", "genus" ], "childTaxon": { "@type": "Taxon", "name": "Delphinapterus leucas", "taxonRank" : [ "WD:Q7432", "species" ] }`
description	Text	Schema: A description of the item.
disambiguatingDescription	Text	Schema: A sub property of description. A short description of the item used to disambiguate from other, similar items. Information from other properties (in particular, name) may be necessary for the description to be useful for disambiguation. Bioschemas: Can be used to specify the taxon circumscription retained in this description, e.g. by denoting the scientific works that assert the status of the accepted/valid name and synonyms.
dwc:vernacularName	Text	Bioschemas: A vernacular (common) name of the taxon	MANY	View ≪dwc:vernacularName≫ example Property ≪dwc:vernacularName≫ example `"dwc:vernacularName": [ { "@language": "en", "@value": "Beluga Whale" }, { "@language": "fr", "@value": "Bélouga" } ]`
identifier	PropertyValue Text URL	Schema: The identifier property represents any kind of identifier for any kind of Thing, such as ISBNs, GTIN codes, UUIDs etc. Schema.org provides dedicated properties for representing many of these, either as textual strings or as URL (URI) links. See background notes for more details. Bioschemas: A PropertyValue should be used to relate the taxon with couterparts identifiers within well known authorities such as GBIF, WoRMS, EoL etc. Wikidata properties may be used in this respect, e.g.: NCBI id (https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P685), GBIF id (https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P846), EoL id (https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P830), iNaturalist id (https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P3151), WoRMS id (https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P850), Fishbase id (https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P938), TAXREF id (https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P3186), …		View ≪identifier≫ example Property ≪identifier≫ example `"identifier": [ { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "TAXREF id", "propertyID": "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P3186", "value": "60932" }, { "@type": "PropertyValue", "name": "WoRMS id", "propertyID": "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/P850", "value": "137115" } ]`
image	ImageObject URL	Schema: An image of the item. This can be a URL or a fully described ImageObject.
isBasedOn	CreativeWork	Schema: A resource from which this work is derived or from which it is a modification or adaption. Supersedes, isBasedOnUrl. Bioschemas: A CreativeWork, such as a scholarly article, asserting the status of the accepted/valid name and synonyms, retained for the taxon circumscription	MANY	View ≪isBasedOn≫ example Property ≪isBasedOn≫ example `"isBasedOn": { "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "name": "The taxonomic status of the nominal dolphin species Delphinus tropicalis Van Bree, 1971", "author": [ "Jefferson, T.A.", "Van Waerebeek, K." ], "datePublished": "2002", "pageStart": "787", "pageEnd": "818", "isPartOf": { "@type": "PublicationIssue", "issueNumber": "4", "isPartOf": { "@type": "PublicationVolume", "name": "Marine Mammal Science", "volumeNumber": "18" } } }`
mainEntityOfPage	CreativeWork URL	Schema: Indicates a page (or other CreativeWork) for which this thing is the main entity being described. See background notes for details. Inverse property: mainEntity.
sameAs	URL	Schema: URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item’s identity. E.g. the URL of the item’s Wikipedia page, Wikidata entry, or official website. Bioschemas: URL of third-party webpages describing the same taxon	MANY	View ≪sameAs≫ example Property ≪sameAs≫ example `"sameAs": [ "http://eol.org/pages/328541", "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beluga_whale", "http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/details/species/id/6850357", "http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/6335" ]`