Taxonomy qualifiers in Specify

[beckerah]

There is a qualifier field in Specify where cf, aff, etc are supposed to go. Pip thinks these should still be part of the full taxon name for these records, but I don't see that that's happened so far. (Possibly because the cf goes on the collection object record, but the taxonomy is being pulled from the taxon record?) I need to figure out what the standard is for these qualifiers. Pip suggests:

• Check on GBIF where cf (aff, etc) are supposed to be
• Try to also find a subspecies with cf
• Are there any like this in Specify? (with a qualifier) - match it with GBIF

[beckerah]

GBIF has three fields that are relevant to this issue:

• scientificName
• verbatimIdentification
• identificationQualifier

The scientificName field is for the full scientific name, including author and date (if known.) The verbatimIdentification field is for the taxon name as it appears on the label/record, including any qualifiers, uncertainties, etc. The identificationQualifier field is for the full qualifier string, for example: aff. agrifolia var. oxyadenia (for Quercus aff. agrifolia var. oxyadenia).

The easiest/fastest implementation of this for our use is to populate the existing qualifier field in Specify with the full qualifier string, as described above.

@PipBrewer Do you think it's worth chatting with Fedor and Zsuzsanna about possibly including a verbatim field in Specify? I don't currently see a use for this, unless we want to be able to accurately record 'sp.', or botanical taxonomy notes, for example: Myosotis laxa Lehm. f. subrepens Neum (=M. laxa ssp. laxa?).