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ITIS

Authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world

Actions9

  • Name Actions
  • Name Usage Actions
  • Name Usage Search Actions
  • Name Usage Suggest Actions
  • Reference Actions
  • Synonym Actions
  • Taxon Actions
  • Tree Actions
  • Vernacular Actions

Synonym → Get

AI-generated

Overview

This node interacts with the ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) API to retrieve authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes. Specifically, for the Synonym - Get operation, it fetches synonym data related to a taxonomic name or entity from the ITIS dataset.

This node is beneficial when you need to:

  • Retrieve synonyms for a given taxonomic name or ID.
  • Explore alternative scientific names or historical names associated with a taxon.
  • Integrate taxonomic synonym data into workflows for biodiversity informatics, ecological research, or taxonomy databases.

Example use case:
You have a species name or taxon ID and want to find all known synonyms to ensure comprehensive data coverage in your biological datasets or reports.

Properties

Name Meaning
Additional Fields A collection of optional parameters to refine the query:
- ID The unique identifier for the name, taxon, or synonym to retrieve.
- Offset The paging offset for results, useful for paginated responses (default 0).
- Limit Maximum number of results to return (minimum 1, default 50).

These properties allow users to specify which synonym record to get by ID or paginate through multiple synonym records.

Output

The output is a JSON array containing the synonym data retrieved from the ITIS API. Each item in the array corresponds to a synonym record matching the query parameters.

The structure of each JSON object depends on the ITIS API response for synonyms but generally includes fields such as synonym name, associated taxon details, and identifiers.

No binary data output is produced by this node.

Dependencies

  • This node requires internet access to call the ITIS public API at https://api.checklistbank.org/dataset/2144.
  • No authentication or API keys are required for this endpoint.
  • The node uses standard HTTP GET requests with JSON responses.

Troubleshooting

  • Empty or no results:
    Ensure the provided ID is correct and exists in the ITIS database. If using pagination, verify that the offset and limit values are within valid ranges.

  • API request failures or timeouts:
    Check network connectivity and ITIS API availability. The API might be temporarily down or unreachable.

  • Invalid parameter errors:
    Confirm that numeric fields like limit and offset are numbers and meet minimum value requirements.

  • Unexpected response format:
    The ITIS API may change; verify the API documentation if the output structure differs.

Links and References

Discussion