Obsolete Taxonomy

How to find and use a Taxonomy marked as Obsolete.

Although Common Names often change and can be different in different regions, Scientific Names also change, but these should be the same regardless of region. A Taxonomy may be changed when it is realized that the members of a Genus are not as closely related as initially thought (example: splitting the Bufo genus into Bufo and Anaxyrus) or a subspecies is found to be so different that it is “promoted” to the species level (example: Amazona autumnalis diadema becomes Amazona diadema). When a Taxonomic Name changes, Species360 will mark the existing Taxonomic Name as Obsolete when they record the new one.

When a Taxonomic Name is changed, you have the option to accept the change or continue using the name marked as Obsolete. When a name is marked Obsolete you have some options for notification:

If you have members of the species in your collection you will receive a Post Office message.
You can sign up for email notifications of all Taxonomic changes. Go to https://www.species360.org/newsletter/
Pending Taxonomic Changes in the Animal statistics box at the top of the Animals module will notify of changes for any species you have in your collection.

In Institution Preferences you have the option to automatically accept any Species360 changes to Taxonomy by checking the box in Application Preferences > Taxonomy. This option is not available at the My Preferences level.

Species360 tries to use the most current and qualified references when updating Taxonomy. You can, however, continue to use Obsolete Taxonomy if you prefer. Doing so may add another layer to searches and your data entry. Another example of when you may select to use an Obsolete Taxonomy is if you are using a Taxonomy that Species360 references do not yet recognize. You can request that we enter the Taxonomy and mark it Obsolete until we can complete our investigation. This will make it available for use but will not impact the global data.

Finding Obsolete Taxonomy in a Taxonomy Search

At the bottom of the Taxonomy Search box there are three options relating to Obsolete Taxonomy. The default is not to include them in the search results, but you can check to include Obsolete records or to show only Obsolete records.

Below we did a search for “Zalophus” with the default of Do Not Include Obsolete Records.

Below we checked to Include Obsolete Records and found a subspecies that had been marked as Obsolete.

Recording an Obsolete Taxonomy during the Accessioning Process

Continuing with our West Coast North American sea lion we will use an Obsolete Taxonomy during an accession. We type in Zalophus and we see there is no option to select Zalophus californianus californianus. We will need to select the Include Obsolete Taxonomy option.

Once that is selected and we type in Zalophus again, our desired Taxonomy will display at the bottom for selection.

In the Basic Info grid the Taxonomy will display as Obsolete with the Taxonomy we recommend using displayed.

When you are using the Animal Search to find the record, once again it will not be a valid selection until you have checked the Include Obsolete option.

Obsolete Taxonomy in Reports

On some Reports, the record will show as “OBSOLETE: use _______”. Below is the header for a Specimen Report for our Obsolete sea lion record.

When running any Reports where you select Taxonomy, if you do NOT check Include Taxonomy Below Selected Level, you will need to select to Include Obsolete Records. However, if you DO check that box the record will be found. Below is a Taxon Report run at the Zalophus level with Include Taxonomy Below checked.

However, on other Reports it will display with the Species360 recommended Taxonomy. Below is an Inventory Report for Mammalia.

To find out about adding local Taxonomic synonyms see Taxonomic Synonyms

Revised 5 March 2025