New & improved NCBI Datasets Taxonomy pages and command-line service
NCBI Datasets is excited to introduce new features to our Taxonomy pages making it easier for you to access, browse, and download taxonomic information about organisms at any taxonomic level.
What’s new?
- Explore Taxonomy records with an updated look and feel
- Access and download taxonomic metadata from the web or with our updated command-line (CLI) tools
Example
Suppose you are interested in getting all taxonomic entries at NCBI Datasets for the dog family (Canidae). Just follow these steps, also outlined in the screenshots below:
- Search NCBI Datasets for Canidae
- Click “View taxonomic details”
- Click the “Download menu” and select to download a Table (tab separated) or a complete Package, which includes data in JSON lines (JSONL) format
- Select the data and file types you want to download. The Parent nodes option will include metadata for higher taxa, such as the Order (Carnivora), Class (Mammalia), etc. The Child nodes option will include lower taxa such as Genera (Vulpes, Canis, etc.), Species and Subspecies
- Downloaded data includes taxonomy IDs, current names, original names (basionyms), taxonomic authorities, and common names for each taxon
Learn more
To learn more about accessing taxonomy records within NCBI Datasets, see our help documentation:
- How-To Guide for Retrieving Taxonomy Metadata with the CLI
- Taxonomy Data Package
- CLI summary command and download command
Stay up to date
NCBI Datasets is part of the NIH Comparative Genomics Resource (CGR). CGR facilitates reliable comparative genomics analyses for all eukaryotic organisms through an NCBI Toolkit and community collaboration.
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Questions?
Try out our NCBI Datasets taxonomy pages and let us know what you think. If you have questions or would like to provide feedback, please reach out to us at info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.