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GET
/
sources
/
taxonomic
List Taxonomic Sources
curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.superseeded.ai/v1/sources/taxonomic
{
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "tnrs",
      "name": "Taxonomic Name Resolution Service (WFO)",
      "description": "World Flora Online taxonomic authority",
      "authority_weight": 1,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 720
    }
  ],
  "total": 12
}
List all available taxonomic data sources used by the species validation system, including their authority weights and cache durations.

​
Overview

This endpoint returns metadata about the 12 taxonomic sources used by the /v1/verify/plant-names endpoint. Use it to understand which databases are queried, their relative authority in the consensus algorithm, and how long results are cached.

​
Request

curl https://api.superseeded.ai/v1/sources/taxonomic
No authentication or request body required.

​
Response

​
sources
object[]
Array of source metadata objects.
​
total
integer
Total number of available sources.

​
Example Response

{
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "tnrs",
      "name": "Taxonomic Name Resolution Service (WFO)",
      "description": "World Flora Online taxonomic authority",
      "authority_weight": 1.0,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 720
    },
    {
      "id": "powo",
      "name": "Plants of the World Online",
      "description": "Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew",
      "authority_weight": 0.95,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 72
    },
    {
      "id": "gbif",
      "name": "Global Biodiversity Information Facility",
      "description": "Largest biodiversity database",
      "authority_weight": 0.85,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 24
    },
    {
      "id": "ala",
      "name": "Atlas of Living Australia",
      "description": "Australian biodiversity data",
      "authority_weight": 0.8,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 72
    },
    {
      "id": "inaturalist",
      "name": "iNaturalist",
      "description": "Community science observations",
      "authority_weight": 0.7,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 48
    },
    {
      "id": "ip_australia",
      "name": "IP Australia Plant Breeders Rights",
      "description": "Australian plant variety protection",
      "authority_weight": 0.75,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 168
    },
    {
      "id": "upov",
      "name": "UPOV Plant Variety Database",
      "description": "International plant variety protection",
      "authority_weight": 0.75,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 168
    },
    {
      "id": "eol",
      "name": "Encyclopedia of Life",
      "description": "Comprehensive species information",
      "authority_weight": 0.6,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 72
    },
    {
      "id": "wikidata",
      "name": "Wikidata",
      "description": "Structured knowledge base",
      "authority_weight": 0.65,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 168
    },
    {
      "id": "wikispecies",
      "name": "WikiSpecies",
      "description": "Wikimedia species directory",
      "authority_weight": 0.6,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 168
    },
    {
      "id": "wikipedia",
      "name": "Wikipedia",
      "description": "General encyclopedia",
      "authority_weight": 0.55,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 168
    },
    {
      "id": "gemini",
      "name": "Google Gemini AI",
      "description": "AI-powered fallback for unresolvable names (requires API key)",
      "authority_weight": 0.5,
      "cache_ttl_hours": 240,
      "fallback_only": true
    }
  ],
  "total": 12
}

​
Source Authority Weights

Sources are ranked by authority in the consensus algorithm:
SourceWeightRole
TNRS (WFO)1.00Taxonomic authority
POWO (Kew)0.95Botanical authority
GBIF0.85Biodiversity database
ALA0.80Regional authority (AU)
IP Australia0.75Cultivar authority
UPOV0.75Variety authority
iNaturalist0.70Observations
Wikidata0.65Structured data
WikiSpecies0.60Species directory
EOL0.60Encyclopedia
Wikipedia0.55General reference
Gemini AI0.50AI fallback (only)

​
Cache Strategy

Each source has a cache TTL tuned to its update frequency:
  • 24 hours: GBIF (observation data updates frequently)
  • 48 hours: iNaturalist (observation counts change regularly)
  • 72 hours: POWO, ALA, EOL (taxonomy relatively stable)
  • 7 days: IP Australia, UPOV, WikiSpecies, Wikidata, Wikipedia (data changes infrequently)
  • 10 days: Gemini AI (AI-generated data, stable period)
  • 30 days: TNRS/WFO (authoritative taxonomy, changes rarely)

Response

200 - application/json

List of taxonomic sources

​
sources
object[]
​
total
integer

Total number of available sources