IUCN Red List data observations

An unofficial, independent review to support data improvement · IUCN Red List version 2026-1

Higher-rank placement differences that look like spelling variants

Source: IUCN Red List 2026-1 vs Catalogue of Life COL26.7 XR (2026-07-17) · 94 rows

The table below lists higher-rank names whose parent taxon is spelled slightly differently in IUCN and the Catalogue of Life (a typo, a diacritic, a Unicode-encoding difference, or a short spelling difference), which suggests the same placement written two ways. Only names within the same phylum are compared.

Why it matters

A near-identical parent name usually means the same placement recorded two ways. Aligning the spelling lets the two classifications match up.

Suggestion

Confirm the intended spelling of the parent name in each row.

The Catalogue of Life crosscheck

Every assessed name is checked against the Catalogue of Life; each difference found is listed on exactly one of the pages below.

PageNamesWhat it lists
Names not found in the Catalogue of Life745The name is absent from CoL: no near spelling, and no other name for the taxon either.
Names with a close Catalogue of Life match799The name is absent from CoL; a near spelling exists in the same genus or epithet.
Names absent from the Catalogue of Life where another name for the taxon is present134The name is absent from CoL; another IUCN-listed name for the taxon is there as a synonym.
Species and subspecies treated as synonyms in the Catalogue of Life11,664CoL treats the name as a synonym of an accepted name IUCN does not list.
Higher-rank names treated as synonyms in the Catalogue of Life717A genus or higher name CoL records only as a synonym.
Higher-rank placement differences that look like spelling variants this page94A higher taxon whose CoL parent name looks like a spelling variant of IUCN's.
Minor naming authority differences9,343Exact name match; the author is spelled differently.
Name pairs where IUCN and the Catalogue of Life differ on which name is accepted2,742Both catalogues hold both names and disagree only on which is accepted.
Higher-rank names placed differently in the Catalogue of Life1,663A higher taxon placed under a genuinely different CoL parent.

By rank

Every row is in the CSV download.

RankCount
order1
family8
genus85

Preview

IUCN nameRankRank comparedIUCN placementCoL placementCoL entryKingdomPhylumIUCN taxaDetail
BALANOMORPHAorderclassTHEOCOSTRACAThecostracaviewANIMALIAARTHROPODA2Class placement differs and 1-character spelling difference: IUCN 'THEOCOSTRACA' versus CoL 'Thecostraca'.
NEOLEPETOPSIDAEfamilyorderPATELLIDANacellidaviewANIMALIAMOLLUSCA11Order placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'PATELLIDA' versus CoL 'Nacellida'.
SEPIADARIIDAEfamilyorderSEPIIDASepiolidaviewANIMALIAMOLLUSCA8Order placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'SEPIIDA' versus CoL 'Sepiolida'.
IDIOSEPIIDAEfamilyorderIDIOSEPIIDAIdiosepidaviewANIMALIAMOLLUSCA6Order placement differs and 1-character spelling difference: IUCN 'IDIOSEPIIDA' versus CoL 'Idiosepida'.
HOLOTHYRIDAEfamilyorderHOLOTHYROIDAEHolothyridaviewANIMALIAARTHROPODA4Order placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'HOLOTHYROIDAE' versus CoL 'Holothyrida'.
LIMULIDAEfamilyorderXIPHOSURAXiphosuridaviewANIMALIAARTHROPODA4Order placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'XIPHOSURA' versus CoL 'Xiphosurida'.
LOTTIIDAEfamilyorderPATELLIDANacellidaviewANIMALIAMOLLUSCA2Order placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'PATELLIDA' versus CoL 'Nacellida'.
EUPHAUSIIDAEfamilyorderEUPHASIACEAEuphausiaceaviewANIMALIAARTHROPODA1Order placement differs and 1-character spelling difference: IUCN 'EUPHASIACEA' versus CoL 'Euphausiacea'.
PECTINODONTIDAEfamilyorderPATELLIDANacellidaviewANIMALIAMOLLUSCA1Order placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'PATELLIDA' versus CoL 'Nacellida'.
PterorhinusgenusfamilyLEIOTRICHIDAELeiothrichidaeviewANIMALIACHORDATA23Family placement differs and 1-character spelling difference: IUCN 'LEIOTRICHIDAE' versus CoL 'Leiothrichidae'.
TrochalopterongenusfamilyLEIOTRICHIDAELeiothrichidaeviewANIMALIACHORDATA19Family placement differs and 1-character spelling difference: IUCN 'LEIOTRICHIDAE' versus CoL 'Leiothrichidae'.
ArgyagenusfamilyLEIOTRICHIDAELeiothrichidaeviewANIMALIACHORDATA17Family placement differs and 1-character spelling difference: IUCN 'LEIOTRICHIDAE' versus CoL 'Leiothrichidae'.
CharmosynagenusfamilyPSITTACIDAEPsittaculidaeviewANIMALIACHORDATA15Family placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'PSITTACIDAE' versus CoL 'Psittaculidae'.
TrichoglossusgenusfamilyPSITTACIDAEPsittaculidaeviewANIMALIACHORDATA15Family placement differs and 2-character spelling difference: IUCN 'PSITTACIDAE' versus CoL 'Psittaculidae'.
GarrulaxgenusfamilyLEIOTRICHIDAELeiothrichidaeviewANIMALIACHORDATA14Family placement differs and 1-character spelling difference: IUCN 'LEIOTRICHIDAE' versus CoL 'Leiothrichidae'.

Showing the first 15 of 94 rows. View the full list →   Download CSV (94 rows)