Proper use of Taxonomic Fields

• incertae sedis when the family of the genus is not known
• indet. when nothing but the order for this taxon is known
• when there are any uncertainties in assignment of the family for this genus, enter 'family attrib of genus uncertain' in the taxonomic status field
• If the family is not known at data entry (a relatively common occurrence) the value Findout may be used. These species can be listed and updated later.
• if there are any uncertainties in the family identification at a particular locality, enter 'family id uncertain' in the ID status field, genus and species should be indet.

• use the most meaningful rank between family and genus for the family in question
• leave blank when tribes/subfamilies are not commonly used for the family in question
• Enter Findout if tribes/subfamilies are commonly used for the family but it is not known to you
• Enter indet. if a tribes/subfamilies are commonly used for this family but cannot be assigned for this taxon
• leave blank when nothing but the order or family for this taxon is known

• indet. when the genus of the species cannot be assigned
  (when genus is indet., species must also be indet.)
• gen. when the "species" belongs to a distinct but unnamed genus
  (when genus is gen., species should usually be sp.)
• when there are any uncertainties in assignment of the genus for this species, enter 'genus attrib of species uncertain' in the taxonomic status field
• if there are any uncertainties in the genus identification at a particular locality, enter 'genus id uncertain' in the ID status field, species should be indet.

• indet. when the species of the taxon cannot be assigned (NOTE: indeterminate taxa are often referred to as 'sp.' in the literature but you should use 'indet.' for them in NOW)
• sp. when the 'species' represents a distinct but unnamed species - when species is sp., the unique identifier must be completed
• if there are any uncertainties in the species identification at a particular locality, enter 'species id uncertain' in the ID status field

• usually left blank (automatically filled with '-')
• mandatory when sp. in the species field: to indicate new, unnamed species, use 'nov. Locality' , or 'nov. Author', or simply 'Locality'
  (Note: NEVER enter the names of new, unpublished taxa, as this will invalidate the name)
• subspecies name if absolutely necessary (avoid using subspecies where possible or enter into the 'Additional Info' field when adding the species into a location). Subspecies can often be considered as actual species by different authors – for example Canis palmidens appears in literature also as Canis chicliensis palmidens – so it is good to also check whether the genus in question already has the same subspecies name as a species level entry in the database.
• may also be used to create informal subdivisions ('small', 'large') of taxa
• Avoid using meaningless distinctions such as 1, 2 or A, B in the unique field, unless following a Locality name even if thus given in the literature

Valid entries are:

• family attrib of genus uncertain
• genus attrib of species uncertain
• informal species
• species validity uncertain
• taxonomic validity uncertain

'Species validity uncertainÕ is used for taxa that belong to a specific genus but have an uncertain standing as separate species (often due to lack of knowledge). ÔTaxonomic validity uncertainÕ indicates taxa that are most likely invalid, nomina dubia, listed only in very old literature, or chimeras but still persist in literature sources as listed species.