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add wording for verbatimTaxonRank - #114

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add wording for verbatimTaxonRank#114
ymgan wants to merge 1 commit into
iobis:masterfrom
ymgan:docs/improve-identification

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@ymgan ymgan commented Apr 21, 2026

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add wording for verbatimTaxonRank for sp. and spp. per example of DwC documentation and feedback from dataset reviewer

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 21, 2026 09:16

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Pull request overview

Updates OBIS-specific Darwin Core guidance to capture how “Genus sp.” / “Genus spp.” identifications should be represented using DwC terms (per DwC examples and dataset review feedback).

Changes:

  • Adds guidance to record “sp.” / “spp.” in verbatimTaxonRank when present in the source record.
  • Clarifies that taxonRank should remain genus and scientificName should contain only the genus for these informal identifications.
  • Mentions preserving the original identification in verbatimIdentification.

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Comment thread darwin_core.md

**In case of low confidence identifications**, and the scientific name contains qualifiers such as _cf._, _?_ or _aff._, then this name should go in `identificationQualifier`, and `scientificName` should contain the name of the lowest possible taxon rank that refers to the most accurate identification. E.g. if the specimen was accurately identified down to genus level, but not species level, then the scientificName should contain the name of the genus, the scientificNameID should contain the LSID the genus and the `identificationQualifier` should contain the low confidence species name combined with _?_ or other qualifiers. The table below shows a few examples:

**For identifications such as _Genus sp._ or _Genus spp._**, the abbreviation (e.g. _sp._, _spp._) may be recorded in [`verbatimTaxonRank`](http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/verbatimTaxonRank) if it appears in the original record. As these are not formal taxon ranks, `taxonRank` should be set to `genus`, and `scientificName` should contain only the genus name. If needed, the full original identification can be preserved in `verbatimIdentification`.
Comment thread darwin_core.md

**In case of low confidence identifications**, and the scientific name contains qualifiers such as _cf._, _?_ or _aff._, then this name should go in `identificationQualifier`, and `scientificName` should contain the name of the lowest possible taxon rank that refers to the most accurate identification. E.g. if the specimen was accurately identified down to genus level, but not species level, then the scientificName should contain the name of the genus, the scientificNameID should contain the LSID the genus and the `identificationQualifier` should contain the low confidence species name combined with _?_ or other qualifiers. The table below shows a few examples:

**For identifications such as _Genus sp._ or _Genus spp._**, the abbreviation (e.g. _sp._, _spp._) may be recorded in [`verbatimTaxonRank`](http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/verbatimTaxonRank) if it appears in the original record. As these are not formal taxon ranks, `taxonRank` should be set to `genus`, and `scientificName` should contain only the genus name. If needed, the full original identification can be preserved in `verbatimIdentification`.
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