Research Guides: Biology: Taxonomic Guides

Taxonomic Guides

Taxonomy is the describing, identifying, classifying, and naming of organisms. Knowing the taxonomic name for an organism you are interested in will aid you in searching databases for articles. Use the sources below to locate taxonomic names as well as citations to publications which describe, identify, classify, or name an organism. Many encyclopedias also include taxonomic names in entries about specific organisms.

Animal Diversity Web
Guide to the animal kingdom only; includes general information about species, pictures, sounds, and classification.
Catalogue of Life Annual Checklist
A "comprehensive catalog of all known species of organisms on Earth," this source gathers and integrates taxonomic data from over 60 international sources.
Index to Organism Names (ION)
Searchable index of millions of scientific names, both fossil and current, from the scientific literature.
ITIS: Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world; as of December 2008, contains more than 482,560 scientific names, more than 76% of which have been verified in the literature, leaving about 106,000 names as unverified legacy data.
National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Taxonomy Browser
Contains the names of all organisms that are represented in the genetic databases with at least one nucleotide or protein sequence.

Zoological Record, 1864-present
The world's oldest continuing database of animal biology. It is considered the world's leading taxonomic reference, and with coverage back to 1864, has long acted as the world's unofficial register of animal names.