The Catalogue of Life crosscheck
Source: IUCN Red List 2026-1 vs Catalogue of Life COL26.7 XR (2026-07-17) · 27,901 rows across 10 pages
These pages compare the scientific names and classification in the IUCN Red List with the Catalogue of Life (CoL). The two are independent catalogues with different sources and update cycles, and the Red List does not follow CoL, so a difference is not an error in either. The lists are for anyone reconciling the two: matching Red List assessments to CoL records, or checking where the catalogues have diverged.
Every assessed IUCN name (species, subspecies, and varieties, excluding subpopulations) is looked up in CoL by exact name, then by near spelling, then through IUCN's own synonym list, and finally through names recorded on Wikidata and English Wikipedia. Higher-rank names (genus to class) are compared separately. Each difference appears on exactly one page.
Pages
| Page | Action | Names | Since 2025-2 | What it lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Names with a close Catalogue of Life match | Fix by hand | 799 | Not in CoL under this name; a near spelling is, in the same genus or with the same epithet. | |
| Names not in the Catalogue of Life, but an IUCN synonym is | Fix by hand | 134 | Not in CoL under this name; one of the taxon's IUCN synonyms is there as a synonym. | |
| Species and subspecies treated as synonyms in the Catalogue of Life | Decide policy | 11,664 | CoL treats the name as a synonym of an accepted name that IUCN does not list. | |
| Higher-rank names treated as synonyms in the Catalogue of Life | Fix by hand | 717 | A genus, family, order, or class name that CoL records only as a synonym. | |
| Parent taxon spelled differently in the Catalogue of Life | Fix by hand | 94 | Same parent taxon in both, spelled slightly differently. | |
| Name pairs where IUCN and the Catalogue of Life differ on which name is accepted | No action | 2,742 | Both catalogues hold both names and disagree only on which is accepted. | |
| Higher-rank names placed under a different parent in the Catalogue of Life | No action | 1,663 | CoL places the name under a different order, class, or family. | |
| Appendix | ||||
| Names not in the Catalogue of Life, but a Wikidata or Wikipedia name is | Fix by hand | 23 | Not in CoL under this name or an IUCN synonym; Wikidata or Wikipedia give a name CoL has. | |
| Author names spelled differently | Fix by hand | 9,343 | Same name in both; the author is spelled slightly differently. | |
| Names not in the Catalogue of Life under any known name | No action | 722 | Not in CoL under this name, a near spelling, or any other name known for the taxon. | |