Welcome to the Catalogue of Life website. The gateway to our online database of the world's known species of animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms.
There are two distinct versions of the Catalogue: the Catalogue of Life monthly edition and the Catalogue of Life Annual Checklist. Choose the version most suited to your needs.
CoL assembly is migrating to new infrastructure, next monthly edition expected at the end of 2019
Catalogue of Life: 2019 Annual Checklist
A referenceable snapshot once per year
Next annual publication date: May 2020
An overview of publications (grey & peer-reviewed literature) that use, mention or refer to Catalogue of Life can be found here. With many thanks to VLIZ for making this list available.
FAQ
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The Annual Checklist is a snapshot of the entire Catalogue of Life: a fixed imprint. If you quote an organism from this version, others will be able to turn to that same reference - at any point in the future. All editions of the Annual Checklist to date are available online, and deposited in libraries around the world. Partner programmes, that link online to the Catalogue of Life, will reference the Annual Checklist.
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Progress
Total Species: > 1,8 M
Total contributing databases: 168
Case Studies

GBIF
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) enables free and open access to biodiversity data online.


IUCN
The IUCN Redlist is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.

Dictionary of Natural Products
The Catalogue of Life has been used to support commercial products.
Tools and Resources


Terms of Use & How to Cite Us
When using the Catalogue of Life in your own system we ask that you abide by a few conditions.


Linked Projects
Many projects rely on the Catalogue of Life for their species backbone. We work with global partners to improve the quality of biodiversity data worldwide.


Web Browser & Page Plugin
Access the Catalogue from your browser toolbar. One click installation or code snippet available.


Web Services
Let your software speak to our server and access the Catalogue of Life programmatically.