01
Unified interface
Use the same API contract regardless of the taxonomic authority being queried.
Taxonomic name resolution
mentaxonomy_api
Resolve the current accepted scientific name from a provider identifier.
One API. Multiple taxonomic providers. A single, normalized response.
Your application
mentaxonomy_api
Unified taxonomic resolution
Cache and taxonomic providers
The problem
Taxonomy changes continuously.
Scientific names change as taxonomic knowledge evolves. Applications that store taxonomic information need a reliable way to determine whether a name is still accepted and, when necessary, retrieve its current accepted form.
Integrating each taxonomic provider separately forces applications to manage different APIs, credentials, data models and response formats.
mentaxonomy_api provides a common resolution layer between your software and those providers.
Features
A unified taxonomic resolution layer.
mentaxonomy_api handles provider-specific communication, caching, authentication and response normalization through a single interface.
02
Accepted name resolution
Resolve the current accepted scientific name from the identifier assigned by a provider.
03
Normalized responses
Receive a consistent data structure instead of processing each provider's native response format.
04
Configurable cache
Reuse recent resolutions, reduce external requests and avoid unnecessary load on taxonomic providers.
05
Token authentication
Control access through individually managed API tokens.
06
Administration and statistics
Manage tokens and monitor API requests, provider calls and cache usage from the administration interface.
Built for real deployments
More than an API endpoint.
Each mentaxonomy_api deployment includes its own service landing page, API documentation, OpenAPI specification, provider status and deployment information.
Supported providers
One interface for different taxonomic authorities.
Applications use a common API while mentaxonomy_api manages the communication and normalization required by each provider.
Prokaryotes
LPSN
Resolution of bacterial and archaeal names using identifiers from the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature.
Fungi
MycoBank
Resolution of fungal names through MycoBank identifiers and nomenclatural information.
Biodiversity
GBIF
Resolution of names across a broad range of organism groups using identifiers from the GBIF taxonomic backbone.
Planned providers include NCBI Taxonomy and Index Fungorum.
How it works
From provider identifier to accepted name.
The application supplies a provider and its taxonomic identifier. mentaxonomy_api handles the complete resolution process.
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1
Send the identifier
Your application sends the provider name and the taxonomic identifier assigned by that provider.
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2
Resolve the taxon
mentaxonomy_api checks its cache and queries the selected provider when no valid cached result is available.
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3
Receive a normalized response
The API returns the original taxon, its current status and the accepted taxon when a different accepted name exists.
Two complementary components
Search locally. Resolve through providers.
mentaxonomy_db and mentaxonomy_api solve different taxonomic problems and operate independently.
Local data
mentaxonomy_db
A locally deployed taxonomic database designed for fast searches, autocomplete and data enrichment.
Explore mentaxonomy_dbName resolution
mentaxonomy_api
A provider-independent API that resolves the current accepted scientific name using external taxonomic authorities or its own cache.
Ready to integrate?
A taxonomy tool to rule them all.
Build your software against mentaxonomy_api instead of integrating each taxonomic provider separately.