herpAdvancedSearch: Search The Reptile Database website (RDB): Advanced

In letsHerp: An Interface to the Reptile Database

Search The Reptile Database website (RDB): Advanced

Description

Creates a search URL for retrieving species lists from RDB based on multiple filters. This URL is primarily used by herpSpecies, but can also be used manually for advanced queries.

If a synonym is provided and can be unambiguously matched to a valid species, the function also prints detailed information for that species.

Usage

herpAdvancedSearch(higher=NULL,
                          genus=NULL,
                          year=NULL,
                          common_name=NULL,
                          synonym=NULL,
                          location=NULL)

Arguments

higher	Character string. A higher-level reptile taxon above genus (e.g., "snakes" or "Boidae").
genus	Character string. The current valid name of a reptile genus (e.g., "Apostolepis").
year	Character string. Filters the search by year of species description (e.g., "2025").
common_name	Character string. A common name potentially linked to a species or genus (e.g., "tree boa").
synonym	Character string. A name potentially regarded as a synonym of a valid taxon (e.g., "Boa diviniloqua").
location	Character string. A country or region name used to list species expected to occur there.

Value

A character string containing the URL to be used in herpSpecies.

If a provided synonym corresponds unambiguously to a valid species, the function also prints species information retrieved from RDB to the console.

Note

This function does not automatically quote input values. If you want to force an exact match (e.g., "Boa" as a phrase), you must manually include quotes in the input string, e.g., "\"Boa\"".

Logical operators (e.g., OR, AND) are supported and will be properly formatted in the search. To exclude terms, use a leading minus sign (e.g., higher = "-snakes") following RDB's query syntax, instead of using NOT.

When a synonym is matched to a single valid species, the function will also display the species' full information as a side effect.

Examples

herpAdvancedSearch(higher = "snakes", year = "2010", location = "Brazil")
herpAdvancedSearch(year = "2010 OR 2011 OR 2012")
herpAdvancedSearch(genus = "Apostolepis OR \"Boa\" OR Atractus") #quotes "Boa"

letsHerp documentation built on June 23, 2025, 5:09 p.m.