DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10969300
title: Hesperomys Project v24.4.0

description: An export of data from the Hesperomys Project version 24.4.0. The Hesperomys Project is a database of taxonomy and nomenclature, focused on mammals but also covering some other groups, principally other fossil tetrapods. The database contains information such as:



Taxonomic classification for all mammals, living and extinct

References to original citations for the vast majority of names

Type specimens and type localities for numerous names


The full database is available online at hesperomys.com. This export contains:



name.csv: Data on names, including taxonomic context, authority, citation, type locality, type specimen, and classification of the etymology.

taxon.csv: Data on taxa, including classification and authority

collection.csv: Data on collections that contain type specimens, including name, location, and number of type specimens in the database


The code used to generate the exports is on GitHub.

Release notes for version 24.4.0:

This release focuses on compatibility with the Mammal Diversity Database (MDD) and improved automatic data extraction. More than a third of names are now linked directly to pages in the Biodiversity Heritage Library.



Database



Fix species assignment for many extant mammal names based on comparisons with data from the MDD. The database's classification for extant mammals now exactly matches the MDD (except for new changes that have not been published in the MDD's latest release yet).

Set more precise page numbers instead of page ranges for a few dozen names.

Add coverage of Cynognathia, a group of Triassic cynodonts closely related to mammals.

Add full authority citations for many more names, notably including many publishedin the publications of the Geological Survey of India and many with type specimens in the ZMMU.

Set the page_described field for several thousand more names.

Move to a more consistent format for type specimens. All type specimen references now start with the institution code.

Mark numerous names as junior homonyms.

Add links to many more citations (primarily in the Biodiversity Heritage Library).

Add direct page links to original citations in over 30,000 names.

Add a few hundred more type locality coordinates and correct more than a hundred incorrect coordinates.



Backend



Add support for ORCID identifiers (though they are currently set for very few people)

Enforce that collection labels consist only of letters and that type specimen references start with the corresponding collection label

Automatically detect species-group homonyms. Distinguish between primary and secondary homonyms.

Revamp system for computing the nomenclatural status of names.

Fill the citation group column for names with a checked original citation in the exported data.

Add support for linking names directly to an online resource (primarily the Biodiversity Heritage Library).

Check that type locality coordinates are in the right country.



Frontend



Add option to show names in a taxon that are missing a field.

Add tool for finding homonyms in the species group.

Add frontend support for new information (authority page links and PhyloCode numbers on names; bibliographic notes and alternative URLs on articles; comments on citation groups).

List basal, incertae sedis, and dubious child taxa separately.



Exported files



Add page links and type specimen links to Name export files.




Thanks to Rudolf Haslauer, Severin Uebbing, and especially Connor Burgin for supplying information and literature.