Wikipedia: WikiProject Tree of Life/Taxobox Usage

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This guide explains how to build a taxobox, a table setting out the taxonomy of a group of living things.

Overview

1. Select the appropriate structure for the taxobox (from #Basic taxoboxes if appropriate; otherwise assemble your own by following #Detailed structure) . Copy and paste the appropriate templates into the article.
2. Choose the header color according to the kingdom; see #Color.
3. Determine its conservation status, if possible; see #Status.
4. Fill in the templates, deleting those that you don't use.

Basic taxoboxes

Taxobox for a plant species

{{Taxobox_begin | color = lightgreen| name = }} <br>{{Status****}}
{{Taxobox_image | image =[[Image:FILENAME.JPG|240px|NAME]] | caption = }}
{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = lightgreen}}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = [[Plant]]ae}}
{{Taxobox_divisio_entry | taxon = [[ophyta]]}}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = [[opsida]]}}
{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = [[ales]]}}
{{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = [[aceae]]}}
{{Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = ''[[G]]''}}
{{Taxobox_species_entry | taxon = ''G. s''}}
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}
{{Taxobox_section_binomial_botany | color = lightgreen| binomial_name = | author = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

Taxobox for an animal species

{{Taxobox_begin | color = | name = }}
{{Taxobox_image | image =[[Image:FILENAME.JPG|200px|NAME]] | caption = }}
{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = }}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = ''G''}}
{{Taxobox_species_entry | taxon = '''''G. s'''''}}
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}
{{Taxobox_section_binomial | color = | binomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

See #Color for choosing a color.

See #Footer for alternative footer (trinomials etc)

The name parameter to {{Taxobox_begin}} should be the common name (if any) and should usually match the article title.

Taxobox for a higher plant group

{{Taxobox_begin | color = lightgreen| name = }}
{{Taxobox_image | image = | caption = }}
{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = lightgreen}}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = [[Plant]]ae}}
{{Taxobox_divisio_entry | taxon = [[ophyta]]}}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = [[opsida]]}}
{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = [[ales]]}}
{{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = [[aceae]]}}
{{Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = ''G''}}
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}
{{Taxobox_section_subdivision | color = lightgreen| plural_taxon = }}
  subgroup 1<br/>
  subgroup 2<br/>
  ...
{{Taxobox_end}}

Taxobox for a higher animal group

{{Taxobox_begin | color = | name = }}
{{Taxobox_image | image = | caption = }}
{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = }}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = '''''G'''''}}
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}
{{Taxobox_section_subdivision | color = | plural_taxon = }}
  subgroup 1<br/>
  subgroup 2<br/>
  ...
{{Taxobox_end}}

The taxon described by the article should be in bold. See #Bold/italic markup below.

The plural_taxon parameter to {{Taxobox_section_subdivision}} should describe what rank the subdivisions are at, for instance Phyla, Classes, Orders. On occasions where ranks have not yet stabilized, it may be better to say Subgroups or Taxa. The list of subgroups should be separated with <br/> tags.

In cases where there are the list is so long the taxobox would be longer than the article, or where the classification is complex, unclear, or disputed, so that a brief summary is impossible, the list may be replaced with a comment like (see text) or the subdivision box may be omitted entirely. When there are more than about 20 entries, they should go in the article; when there are over a hundred or so, they should be given a separate article.

Sometimes it is convenient to represent more than one level of classification in the list. In that case the lower level groups are moved over to the right by prefixing them with &nbsp; characters — usually three for the first level of indentation, and then one to three more for each subsequent level. Major grades may also be represented by bolded headers: see plant or heterokont. Remember, though, these should mainly be done when the intermediate rank subgroups are not worthy of separate articles. Taxoboxes are too cramped to include too much duplicate information.

Extinct subgroups should be indicated with a dagger † (&#x2020;) or the word (extinct).

Bold/italic markup

In {{Taxobox_section_*}} and {{Taxobox_begin_...}}, emphasis is handled automatically. In the individual taxon entries, however, the author must make this decision. Here are the guidelines.

• The genus, species, and subspecies should be italicized whenever used, as is the biological standard. See for instance Pan. Higher taxa like families should never be italicized.
• The final taxon is bold, due to it being the subject of the article, and any higher taxa that only include the final taxon are bolded as well. See for instance hominid, green sulfur bacteria, or Ginkgo. Note that the genus is currently bolded on many species articles, although it is not monotypic; this is based on a previous standard.
• In a species' article, the binomial or trinomial name is italicized but should not be bold unless it is the title of the article:

Critter (Creepius crawlius) is a beastie that lives in habitat.

Snagotoothius unkillabilus is a horrible foot-puncturing weed that nobody ever bothered to name.

Complete classification

This taxobox contains a complete list of taxobox templates. Do not use this complete list: instead cut out all ranks except for the seven major ranks (regnum, phylum, classis, ordo, familia, genus, species) and the particular other ranks that are important to the taxon being described. The fine details of classification between (say) regnum and phylum are obscure, not directly relevant to an article on a species, and moreover are subject to dispute and change as conventions evolve and more discoveries are made.

{{Taxobox_begin | color = | name = }}
{{Taxobox_image | image = | caption = }}
{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = }}
<!-- Do not use this complete list of entries! -->
{{Taxobox_domain_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_subregnum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_superdivisio_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_divisio_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_subphylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_infraphylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_microphylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_nanophylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_superclassis_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_subclassis_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_infraclassis_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_superordo_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_subordo_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_infraordo_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_superfamilia_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_subfamilia_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_tribus_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_subtribus_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = '''''G'''''}}
{{Taxobox_subgenus_entry | taxon =}}
{{Taxobox_species_entry | taxon = '''''S'''''}}
{{Taxobox_subspecies_entry | taxon = '''''s'''''}}
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}
<!-- Choose at most one of these: -->
{{Taxobox_section_binomial | color = | binomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_section_binomial_parens | color = | binomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_section_binomial_simple | color = | binomial_name = }}
{{Taxobox_section_binomial_botany | color = | binomial_name = | author = }}
{{Taxobox_section_trinomial | color = | trinomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_section_trinomial_parens | color = | trinomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_section_trinomial_simple | color = | trinomial_name = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

For unranked groups use {{Taxobox_unranked_entry | taxon = }}

Color

Choose a color according to the kingdom. Make sure to spell "lightgrey" with an E and both "darkgray" and "gray" with an A, since some browsers will not accept alternate spellings. This color goes in every taxobox template color parameter.

Kingdoms

Domains

Conservation status

Just after the opening, the conservation status may be included. It should be added to the end of that line, like this:

{{Taxobox_begin | color = | name = }}<br />{{StatusEndangered}}
{{Taxobox_image | image = | caption = }}
...

Choose one of the following templates:

You can search the IUCN's database of threatened species for the conservation status of many organisms.

Authority

The authority section documents the earliest description of a species or more narrowly classified group (e.g., subspecies). It contains the author (or authors) and the year of description.

Different authority templates are chosen based on:

• Whether the author is known
• Whether the author's original classification stands, or has been modified (for example, a species has been moved to another genus)
• Whether the organism is a plant

The templates for the authority are:

Detailed structure

The taxobox consists of three main sections: a header, a placement section, and a footer. The header gives the name of the group and sometimes its conservation status and an image, and the placement section gives its phylogenetic position. There are different footers for different purposes.

Header

The general form of the header looks like this (with an optional conservation status; see #Status above):

{{Taxobox_begin | color = | name = }}
{{Taxobox_image | image = | caption = }}

The name is the common name where possible, and a generally accepted scientific name where not. In general it will be the same as the name of the corresponding article. The conservation and image templates are optional.

The image should be around 200px–250px in width, and not excessively tall. Do not use thumbnail or framed style, but do give alternative text, which should be the same as the caption.

Placement

The general form of the placement section is:

{{Taxobox_begin_placement | color = }}
{{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = }}
{{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = }}
...
{{Taxobox_end_placement}}

Each entry tag corresponds to a containing group, except for the last, which should be the group under consideration. Guidelines for linking and bolding taxa are as written above. Note the entry tags use the Latin name of the rank, in order to make porting between different languages easier. The major ranks are:

• Kingdom: use {{Taxobox_regnum_entry | taxon = }}
• Phylum or division: use {{Taxobox_phylum_entry | taxon = }} or {{Taxobox_divisio_entry | taxon = }}
• Class: use {{Taxobox_classis_entry | taxon = }}
• Order: use {{Taxobox_ordo_entry | taxon = }}
• Family: use {{Taxobox_familia_entry | taxon = }}
• Genus: use {{Taxobox_genus_entry | taxon = }}
• Species: use {{Taxobox_species_entry | taxon = }}

The full list of classifications is found in the #Complete classification section above, but in general only the seven major ranks need to be listed. Intermediate ranks like suborders and superclasses should only be added when they are well-recognised and provide some insight into the nature of the taxon in question.

Footer

For species and subspecies, the footer gives the binomial name or trinomial name. There are six different templates to do this, depending on whether the authority is included. For taxa of higher rank, the footer usually gives its subdivision.

In some cases additional material may be added to the footer; these are still under discussion. Most notably, range maps should probably be added by using a second {{Taxobox_image ...}} tag just before {{Taxobox_end}}.

Subdivision footer

{{Taxobox_section_subdivision | color = | plural_taxon = }}
subgroup 1<br />
subgroup 2<br />
...
{{Taxobox_end}}

Footer, binomial name, with authority

{{Taxobox_section_binomial | color = | binomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

Footer, trinomial name, with authority

{{Taxobox_section_trinomial | color = | trinomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

Footer, binomial name, with authority in parentheses

Use this closing or the next one when the type author's original assignment for the species has been changed. For instance, it was originally named Genus1 species1, and later someone shows that it should have been Genus2 species1.

{{Taxobox_section_binomial_parens | color = | binomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

Footer, trinomial name, with authority in parentheses

{{Taxobox_section_trinomial_parens | color = | trinomial_name = | author = | date = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

Footer, binomial name, without authority

{{Taxobox_section_binomial_simple | color = | binomial_name = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

Footer, trinomial name, without authority

{{Taxobox_section_trinomial_simple | color = | trinomial_name = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}

Footer, binomial name, botanical authority

Use this closing for botanical taxoboxes, which show the author but not the date.

{{Taxobox_section_binomial_botany | color = | binomial_name = | author = }}
{{Taxobox_end}}