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About the Tutorial

This tutorial is following the workflow that is used to move the World Catalogue of the Curculionidae: Lixinae: Cleonini by Massimo Meregalli into TaxonWorks.

The Cleonini Catalogue was previously published as a website (html), but each genus was also summarized in a PDF file identical to the respective webpage.
It is an excellent example of a richly annotated catalog, many other catalogs contain fewer citations for the information they provide. However, it would profit from living in a database such as TaxonWorks, where the data is much more manageable, interlinked and filterable.

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Entry for a genus in the original Cleonini Catalogue. It also contains the full references for each citation, not included in the screenshot.

We see a lot of information that needs to be transferred into TaxonWorks:

  • Names for genus, subgenus and species, including synonyms. Synonyms can have a status e.g. as homonym
  • Citation for original description, with page number
  • Images, usually depicting a type specimen
  • Original genus for names that where described in a different genus
  • Type locality, sometimes in verbatim ("Steppes des Kirguises")
  • Asserted distribution: List of countries/provinces from which the species was recorded, with citation.
  • Type seen by Massimo Meregalli ("!")
  • Verbatim text ("Remarks: A lectotype [...]")

All of this is extremely valuable information and easily represented in the data model of TaxonWorks. On top, we will add the following whenever possible:

  • host plants
  • subsequent combinations (combinations between genus and species that where used after the original description but before the one that is currently used), with citation
  • identification keys
  • much more possible: DNA, morphological traits, etc...

Can I import an existing dataset instead of doing everything by hand?

Yes, definitely! But your dataset needs to be in a structured format. Most existing catalogs are in a verbatim format that is difficult to transform into a structure that can be imported into TaxonWorks. However, one strength of TaxonWorks is that you can export your data in a structured format, making it easier to move it to any other application. Adding data to TaxonWorks is "mobilizing" it for future use.