Assessments with no geographic scope

Source: IUCN API and CSV export · 52 rows

The table below lists assessments with no geographic scope at all. An assessment's scope is the region it covers, and every assessment is expected to record at least one: Global, Europe, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and so on.

Some are the taxon's current assessment. Those also appear in the downloadable CSV export with an empty scopes column, so the gap is in the underlying data rather than in one delivery format; every other assessment row in the export has a scope. The rest are historical assessments, which the export does not include, so they are visible only through the API.

Until shortly before this site release, the API returned HTTP 500 (a server error) for every one of these records, and they could not be read at all. They now return normally, with the scope still blank. On the species page at iucnredlist.org, the region line for these assessments displays as a bare "&" with no region text.

A few of the affected taxa have a scientific name ending in "_new" (Balaenoptera edeni_new, for example), which suggests working or draft records were published by accident.

Why it matters

Any data consumer that filters assessments by scope silently drops these records, and filtering to "Global" is the standard first step, including for anyone reproducing the Red List's own summary statistics. For some taxa the blank-scope record is the only assessment, or the only current one, so the taxon has no usable scope anywhere.

Suggestion

Add the correct scope to each record, and add a validation rule so an assessment cannot be published without one. For the records whose scientific name ends in "_new", check whether they were meant to be published at all.

Changes since 2025-2

The scope for these assessments is not global or local, but empty. This was previously a larger problem as the records caused IUCN's API to return an HTTP 500 (Internal Server Error) when one of these assessments was requested. The API now serves them normally, which resolves a major issue, but the data for these assessments still includes a blank scope, indicating some other underlying problem and causing other issues.

IUCN's 2025-2 release had 23 of these records; 2026-1 has 52, so new ones are still being created. Until late August 2026 the API returned HTTP 500 for every one of them. Between 24 August and 1 September 2026 the API began serving them normally, which is great news. The underlying data issue remains though, the scope for these assessments is still empty, possibly indiciating some other issue. The assessments may be hidden from some searches, but are available via the API or by direct link.

By assessment version

The CSV export includes current assessments only, so historical rows can only be seen through the API.

Assessment	Rows	Also blank in the CSV export
Current assessment	28	28
Historical assessment	24	0

By class

Class	Rows
ACTINOPTERYGII	10
MAGNOLIOPSIDA	10
GASTROPODA	7
LILIOPSIDA	5
MAMMALIA	4
REPTILIA	4
AVES	3
CHONDRICHTHYES	3
INSECTA	3
ANTHOZOA	2
MALACOSTRACA	1

Preview

Scientific name	Authority	Class	Order	Family	Assessed as	Assessment	Current	Year	In CSV export	Other scopes for this taxon	SIS id	Red List	Detail
Alhagi graecorum	`Boiss.`	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	FABALES	FABACEAE	LC	281493308	yes	2019	yes		19375594	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope.
Aquilegia ottonis_new	`Orph. ex Boiss.`	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	RANUNCULALES	RANUNCULACEAE	DD	297328394	yes	2023	yes		297325963	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which reads like a working record.
Astragalus arpilobus subsp. hauarensis	`(Boiss.) Podlech`	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	FABALES	FABACEAE	LC	281495145	yes	2019	yes		281494975	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope.
Capparis spinosa_new	`L.`	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	BRASSICALES	CAPPARACEAE	LC	281395992	yes	2019	yes		178716403	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which reads like a working record.
Trigonella glabra subsp. glabra		MAGNOLIOPSIDA	FABALES	FABACEAE	LC	281500222	yes	2019	yes		281500065	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope.
Balaenoptera edeni_new	`Anderson, 1879`	MAMMALIA	ARTIODACTYLA	BALAENOPTERIDAE	DD	280430982	yes	2018	yes		217123456	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which reads like a working record.
Ptenopus garrulus_new	`(A. Smith, 1849)`	REPTILIA	SQUAMATA	GEKKONIDAE	LC	293779159	yes	2013	yes		293778383	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which reads like a working record.
Astragalus arpilobus subsp. hauarensis	`(Boiss.) Podlech`	MAGNOLIOPSIDA	FABALES	FABACEAE	LC	282024753	no		no		281494975	view	Historical assessment with a blank scope; visible only through the API. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope.
Trigonella glabra subsp. glabra		MAGNOLIOPSIDA	FABALES	FABACEAE	LC	282024133	no		no		281500065	view	Historical assessment with a blank scope; visible only through the API. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope.
Aphanius almiriensis	`Kottelat, Barbieri & Stoumboudi, 2007`	ACTINOPTERYGII	CYPRINODONTIFORMES	APHANIIDAE	DD	277364420	yes	2023	yes	Global & Mediterranean, Europe	135600	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it.
Oxynoemacheilus theophilii	`Stoumboudi, Kottelat & Barbieri, 2006`	ACTINOPTERYGII	CYPRINIFORMES	NEMACHEILIDAE	EN	277310698	yes	2023	yes	Global, Europe	266885363	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it.
Valencia letourneuxi	`(Sauvage, 1880)`	ACTINOPTERYGII	CYPRINODONTIFORMES	VALENCIIDAE	CR	292343570	yes	2023	yes	Global, Europe & Mediterranean	266190752	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it.
Ampullaceana relicta	`(Poliński, 1929)`	GASTROPODA	HYGROPHILA	LYMNAEIDAE	CR	293422850	yes	2023	yes	Global, Europe & Mediterranean	293414853	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it.
Cochlostoma elegans	`(Clessin, 1879)`	GASTROPODA	ARCHITAENIOGLOSSA	COCHLOSTOMATIDAE	DD	289734988	yes	2023	yes	Global, Europe & Mediterranean	285823555	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it.
Perforatella incarnata	`(O.F. Müller, 1774)`	GASTROPODA	STYLOMMATOPHORA	HYGROMIIDAE	LC	292266763	yes	2023	yes	Global & Europe	261519413	view	The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it.

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