Assessments with no geographic scope
Source: IUCN API and CSV export · 52 rows
The table below lists assessments with no geographic scope at all. An assessment's scope is the region it covers, and every assessment is expected to record at least one: Global, Europe, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, and so on.
Some are the taxon's current assessment. Those also appear in the downloadable CSV export with an empty scopes column, so the gap is in the underlying data rather than in one delivery format; every other assessment row in the export has a scope. The rest are historical assessments, which the export does not include, so they are visible only through the API.
Until shortly before this site release, the API returned HTTP 500 (a server error) for every one of these records, and they could not be read at all. They now return normally, with the scope still blank. On the species page at iucnredlist.org, the region line for these assessments displays as a bare "&" with no region text.
A few of the affected taxa have a scientific name ending in "_new" (Balaenoptera edeni_new, for example), which suggests working or draft records were published by accident.
Why it matters
Any data consumer that filters assessments by scope silently drops these records, and filtering to "Global" is the standard first step, including for anyone reproducing the Red List's own summary statistics. For some taxa the blank-scope record is the only assessment, or the only current one, so the taxon has no usable scope anywhere.
Suggestion
Add the correct scope to each record, and add a validation rule so an assessment cannot be published without one. For the records whose scientific name ends in "_new", check whether they were meant to be published at all.
By assessment version
The CSV export includes current assessments only, so historical rows can only be seen through the API.
| Assessment | Rows | Also blank in the CSV export |
|---|---|---|
| Current assessment | 28 | 28 |
| Historical assessment | 24 | 0 |
Groups: Plants (15), Fish (13), Molluscs (7), Mammals (4), Reptiles (4), Birds (3), Insects (3), Corals (2), Crustaceans (1)
Preview
| Scientific name | Authority | Group | Assessed as | Assessment | Current | Year | In CSV export | Other scopes for this taxon | SIS id | Red List | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balaenoptera edeni_new | Anderson, 1879 | Mammals | DD | 280430982 | yes | 2018 | yes | 217123456 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which looks like a draft record. | |
| Ptenopus garrulus_new | (A. Smith, 1849) | Reptiles: Lizards and snakes | LC | 293779159 | yes | 2013 | yes | 293778383 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which looks like a draft record. | |
| Alhagi graecorum | Boiss. | Plants: Dicotyledons | LC | 281493308 | yes | 2019 | yes | 19375594 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. | |
| Aquilegia ottonis_new | Orph. ex Boiss. | Plants: Dicotyledons | DD | 297328394 | yes | 2023 | yes | 297325963 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which looks like a draft record. | |
| Astragalus arpilobus subsp. hauarensis | (Boiss.) Podlech | Plants: Dicotyledons | LC | 281495145 | yes | 2019 | yes | 281494975 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. | |
| Capparis spinosa_new | L. | Plants: Dicotyledons | LC | 281395992 | yes | 2019 | yes | 178716403 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. The scientific name ends in "_new", which looks like a draft record. | |
| Trigonella glabra subsp. glabra | | Plants: Dicotyledons | LC | 281500222 | yes | 2019 | yes | 281500065 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. | |
| Astragalus arpilobus subsp. hauarensis | (Boiss.) Podlech | Plants: Dicotyledons | LC | 282024753 | no | no | 281494975 | view | Historical assessment with a blank scope; visible only through the API. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. | ||
| Trigonella glabra subsp. glabra | | Plants: Dicotyledons | LC | 282024133 | no | no | 281500065 | view | Historical assessment with a blank scope; visible only through the API. The taxon has no other assessment with a scope. | ||
| Grammomys cometes | (O. Thomas & Wroughton, 1908) | Mammals: Rodents | LC | 299807856 | yes | 2016 | yes | Global | 277178703 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. |
| Aphanius almiriensis | Kottelat, Barbieri & Stoumboudi, 2007 | Fish: Ray-finned fishes | DD | 277364420 | yes | 2023 | yes | Global & Mediterranean, Europe | 135600 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. |
| Oxynoemacheilus theophilii | Stoumboudi, Kottelat & Barbieri, 2006 | Fish: Ray-finned fishes | EN | 277310698 | yes | 2023 | yes | Global, Europe | 266885363 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. |
| Valencia letourneuxi | (Sauvage, 1880) | Fish: Ray-finned fishes | CR | 292343570 | yes | 2023 | yes | Global, Europe & Mediterranean | 266190752 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. |
| Bombus monticola | Smith, 1849 | Insects: Bees, wasps and ants | CR | 292279457 | yes | 2023 | yes | Europe | 250833919 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. |
| Nathrius brevipennis | (Mulsant, 1839) | Insects: Beetles | LC | 292271795 | yes | 2023 | yes | Europe | 281153107 | view | The taxon's current assessment has a blank scope, in both the API and the CSV export; scope filters exclude it. |
Showing the first 15 of 52 rows. View the full list → Download CSV (52 rows)
Each row has a stable id, kept across releases, for citing a row or tracking it in the next release.
Changes since 2025-2
Release 2025-2 had 23 of these records; 2026-1 has 52, so new ones are still being created. Several of the new ones have scientific names ending in
_new, which suggests draft records that reached the published dataset.Until late August 2026 the API returned HTTP 500 (Internal Server Error) for every one of these assessments. Between 24 August and 1 September 2026 the API began serving them normally. The scope field is still blank, so the records still drop out of any scoped search, including the usual "Global" filter; they remain reachable through the API and by direct link.