T# 🦎 reptiledb.data: Access the Reptile Database in R
reptiledb.data provides easy access to the Reptile Database, a
comprehensive global catalogue of all living reptile species. Developed
by PaulESantos, this R package includes a complete
snapshot of the database as ready-to-use R data objects for taxonomy,
biodiversity research, and comparative analyses.
The Reptile Database is a volunteer-driven, non-commercial initiative that curates the global taxonomy of reptiles. It covers all known:
It currently includes:
Although the focus is on taxonomy, future additions may include ecological and behavioral traits.
Install the package from CRAN:
install.packages("reptiledb.data")Or install the development version from GitHub:
# Using pak
pak::pak("PaulESantos/reptiledb.data")library(reptiledb.data)
# Load the main dataset
data(reptiledb_012025)
# View the structure of the dataset
str(reptiledb_012025)
#> tibble [14,539 × 13] (S3: tbl_df/tbl/data.frame)
#> $ order : Factor w/ 5 levels "Crocodylia","Rhynchocephalia",..: 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 ...
#> $ family : Factor w/ 94 levels "Acrochordidae",..: 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 ...
#> $ genus : Factor w/ 1260 levels "Ablepharus","Abronia",..: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...
#> $ epithet : Factor w/ 8631 levels "aaronbaueri",..: 159 159 159 340 1004 1214 1589 1589 1589 1589 ...
#> $ species : chr [1:14539] "Ablepharus alaicus" "Ablepharus alaicus" "Ablepharus alaicus" "Ablepharus anatolicus" ...
#> $ species_author : Factor w/ 3579 levels "Abalos, Baez & Nader",..: 914 914 914 2890 2054 1117 707 707 707 707 ...
#> $ species_name_year : chr [1:14539] "1901" "1901" "1901" "1997" ...
#> $ subspecies_name : chr [1:14539] "kucenkoi" "alaicus" "yakovlevae" NA ...
#> $ subspecie_author_info : chr [1:14539] "NIKOLSKY 1902" "ELPATJEVSKY 1901" "EREMCHENKO 1983" NA ...
#> $ subspecies_name_author: chr [1:14539] "Nikolsky" "Elpatjevsky" "Eremchenko" NA ...
#> $ subspecies_year : chr [1:14539] "1902" "1901" "1983" NA ...
#> $ change : Factor w/ 6 levels "changed","new genus (was: Brachyseps)",..: NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA ...
#> $ rdb_sp_id : num [1:14539] 11256 11256 11256 23791 10001 ...
# Get the total number of records
nrow(reptiledb_012025)
#> [1] 14539
# Count the number of unique accepted species
length(unique(reptiledb_012025$species))
#> [1] 12439The data included in this package is derived from the Reptile Database, curated by a network of volunteer experts and guided by a Scientific Advisory Board. Please cite the database appropriately when using it in research.
This package is maintained by PaulESantos.
Contributions, issue reports, and suggestions are welcome via
GitHub.