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Specimens and Type Material

Comprehensive Guide: TaxonWorks Docs | Collection Objects
Related tutorials - Learn to add images: attaching specimen photos and label images - Learn to add sources / literature: creating the Source you will cite - Learn to add a new species: its "Type" section covers type material entered from the taxon name side

When to add specimens

Adding specimens is tedious. Often, there are faster/easier alternatives: A distribution record could be added as an asserted distribution, a biological association can be linked to the OTU instead of a specimen.

It is always preferable to add specimens

  • Specimens make a claim falsifiable: Someone can visit the collection and check if the specimen was correctly identified. A bare asserted distribution or host plant record cannot be falsified.
  • Specimens add credibility to a claim

Citations

Conventions

  • When entering specimens from literature for biological associations, add the citation to the biological association, not the specimen

Collection Object vs Field Occurrence

Use Field Occurrence if no physical specimen exists. It's basically the same as a collection object, but without catalog number and repository. There is a dedicated task to import Field Occurrences from iNaturalist.

Which task to use

  • Comprehensive Specimen Digitization (CSD): the all-in-one form: Collection Object, Determinations, Collecting Event, Type Material and Biological Associations on one screen.
  • New Collection Object: minimal / skeletal stub records for fast batch digitization, parsed later. Not encouraged to use
  • New Type Specimen: shortcut for recording type material without the full CSD form. Not encouraged, there are less fields and as there is no "Event" form, you can't add a georeference.

Images

See Learn to add images. In short: attach photos to the Collection Object (not the OTU); tick "is data depiction" for label images; if the image is from a publication, add a Citation ("Depicted in").

Conventions

  • When label images, tick the "is data depiction" box for those

To be expanded.