TAXON_SPECIES_PLURAL - AtlasOfLivingAustralia/ala-dataquality GitHub Wiki
Description
The supplied name contains a species plural marker ('spp.') and cannot be matched to a single species.
Example: Melaleuca spp., Hypseleotris spp. (complex)
Related fields
- dwc:kingdom
- dwc:phylum
- dwc:class
- dwc:order
- dwc:family
- dwc:genus
- dwc:scientificName
- dwc:scientificNameAuthorship
- genericName
- dwc:specificEpithet
- dwc:infraspecificEpithet
- dwc:taxonRank
- dwc:vernacularName
Implications and caveats
Severity: Warning
The species plural marker 'spp.' is commonly used to indicate that there is either more than one specimen, or more than one species, in an occurrence. There are no real implications for data quality or fitness-for-purpose, as the provided name will be matched to a higher rank, but in principle these markers are not allowed in scientific names.
Preferred usage would be to provide the scientific name of the parent taxon and
use other Darwin Core terms, like identificationRemarks and individualCount,
to provide the rest of the information.
Data custodian recommendations
At the moment, the recommendation is to not do anything about this assertion.