1. Species File Software: A
foundation for taxonomic
database development
R. Edward DeWalt
University of Illinois
Prairie Research Institute
Illinois Natural History Survey
Mission: To provide software and services to
taxonomists studying the Earth’s biodiversity.

2. • “Provide software and services to taxonomists” and let
them get back to work!
• Long-term commitment
o $10 million endowment supported
o Franchise-level programmers
o Matt Yoder (MX dev.)
o Dmitry Dmitriev (3i dev.)
• Growing community of users
• Rich taxonomic tradition of INHS
Species File Software

3. • Nomenclatural and associated data
• Internet-based workbench
• ICZN encoded/enforced
• Data checked for consistency and completeness
– Real time
– Post data entry
» Editor driven fixes
» Automated fixes
• Extensive search capabilities
• Public and private SFs
• Extensive help wiki
Software Features

4. • Global data portals
• CoL: annual & more often
• GBIF: IPT—DwC-A
• Scratchpads
• EoL
• Web services
• Data standards
• DwC-A
• Life Science Identifiers
• Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)
• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license
Serving a Global Community

5. Total Taxon Names & Valid Species
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
Total Names
Valid spp.
#Names
93475
56882

6. Citations, Images, Specimen Records
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
Citations
Images
Specimens Records
374079
98180
100703
Count

7. Orthoptera Species File—Our Flagship

9. Full list of search categories
• Data source
• Ecological Relationship
• Expert
• Faunal list
• Person
• Publication
• Reference
• Scrutiny
• Specimen record
• Specimen depository
• Statistics
• Taxon
A “Taxon” search

10. And more!!
A taxon page

11. • URLs may be used
elsewhere
• citations for specific
searches possible
A “Faunal list” search

12. Legacy Database Migration
•Pipeline for import, Matt’s Taxonifi
•Coming
o Lygaeoidea SF (from Toby) In progress
o Chalcidoidea SF In progress
o Lepidoptera SF (LepIndex) Planned
o Termite SF Planned
o Add your SF here

13. Announcing
Fossil Insect Species File
• Author: Dr. Sam Heads of INHS
• Global coverage
• >20,000 species plus higher taxa
• Type specimens
• Literature
• Images
• Paleontological metadata—strata

14. The Future of Species Files
• Addition of more species files
• New CMS: homepage and taxon page flexibility
• Expand workbench for revisionary systematics
• MX & 3i features added
• Integrate with other frameworks
o Global Names Architecture
o iDigBio
o i4Life
• Consult/Collaborate w/ taxonomists
on proposals and use cases

15. Become a Species File Curator
Contact us
R. Edward DeWalt dewalt@illinois.edu
http://help.speciesfile.org