validate_peru_mammals: Match Species Names Against Peru Mammals Database

In perumammals: Taxonomic Backbone and Name Validation Tools for Mammals of Peru

Match Species Names Against Peru Mammals Database

Description

Matches given species names against the official list of mammal species of Peru (Pacheco et al. 2021). Uses a hierarchical matching strategy that includes direct matching, genus-level matching, and fuzzy matching to maximize successful matches while maintaining accuracy.

Peru Mammals Database:

• 575 mammal species

• Binomial nomenclature only (no infraspecific taxa)

• Includes 6 undescribed species ("sp." cases)

• Fields: genus, species, scientific_name, common_name, family, order, endemic

Usage

validate_peru_mammals(splist, quiet = TRUE)

Arguments

splist	A character vector containing the species names to be matched. Names can be in any format (uppercase, lowercase, with underscores, etc.). Duplicate names are preserved in the output.
quiet	Logical, default TRUE. If FALSE, prints informative messages about the matching progress.

Details

Matching Strategy: The function implements a hierarchical matching pipeline:

1. Node 1 - Direct Match: Exact matching of binomial names (genus + species)

2. Node 2 - Genus Match: Exact matching at genus level

3. Node 3 - Fuzzy Genus: Fuzzy matching for genus with typos (max distance = 1)

4. Node 4 - Fuzzy Species: Fuzzy matching for species within matched genus

Special Cases:

• Handles "sp." cases: "Akodon sp. Ancash", "Oligoryzomys sp. B", etc.

• Case-insensitive matching

• Removes common qualifiers (CF., AFF.)

• Standardizes spacing and formatting

Rank System:

• Rank 1: Genus level only (e.g., "Panthera")

• Rank 2: Binomial (genus + species, e.g., "Panthera onca")

Ambiguous Matches: When multiple candidates have identical fuzzy match scores, a warning is issued and the first match is selected. Use get_ambiguous_matches() to examine these cases.

Input Requirements:

Species names must be provided as binomials (Genus species) WITHOUT:

• Author information: Panthera onca Linnaeus"

• Infraspecific taxa: "Panthera onca onca"

• Parenthetical authors: "Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758)"

Valid formats:

• Standard binomial: "Panthera onca"

• Undescribed species: "Akodon sp. Ancash"

• Case-insensitive: "PANTHERA ONCA" or "panthera onca"

Names with 3+ elements will be automatically rejected with a warning.

Value

A tibble with the following columns:

sorter

Integer. Original position in input vector

Orig.Name

Character. Original input name (standardized)

Matched.Name

Character. Matched name from database or "—"

Match.Level

Character. Quality of match ("Exact rank", "No match", etc.)

matched

Logical. Whether a match was found

Rank

Integer. Input taxonomic rank (1 or 2)

Matched.Rank

Integer. Matched taxonomic rank (1 or 2)

Comp.Rank

Logical. Whether ranks match exactly

valid_rank

Logical. Whether match is valid at correct rank

Orig.Genus

Character. Input genus (uppercase)

Orig.Species

Character. Input species (uppercase)

Author

Character. Taxonomic authority if provided

Matched.Genus

Character. Matched genus (uppercase)

Matched.Species

Character. Matched species (uppercase)

genus_dist

Integer. Edit distance for genus (0=exact, >0=fuzzy, NA=no match)

species_dist

Integer. Edit distance for species (0=exact, >0=fuzzy, NA=no match or genus-only)

scientific_name

Character. Scientific name from peru_mammals

common_name

Character. Common name in Spanish

family

Character. Family

order

Character. Order

endemic

Logical. Endemic to Peru?

Attributes: The output includes metadata accessible via attr():

• target_database: "peru_mammals"

• matching_date: Date of matching

• n_input: Number of input names

• n_matched: Number of successful matches

• match_rate: Percentage of successful matches

• n_fuzzy_genus: Number of fuzzy genus matches

• n_fuzzy_species: Number of fuzzy species matches

• ambiguous_genera: Ambiguous genus matches (if any)

• ambiguous_species: Ambiguous species matches (if any)

See Also

get_ambiguous_matches to retrieve ambiguous match details

Examples

# Basic usage
species_list <- c("Panthera onca", "Tremarctos ornatus", "Puma concolor")
results <- validate_peru_mammals(species_list)

# Check results
table(results$matched)
table(results$Match.Level)

# View matched species
results |>
  dplyr::filter(matched) |>
  dplyr::select(Orig.Name, Matched.Name, common_name, endemic)

# With typos (fuzzy matching)
typos <- c("Pumma concolor", "Tremarctos ornatu")  # Spelling errors
results_fuzzy <- validate_peru_mammals(typos, quiet = FALSE)

# Check for ambiguous matches
get_ambiguous_matches(results_fuzzy, type = "genus")

# Access metadata
attr(results, "match_rate")
attr(results, "n_fuzzy_genus")

# With special "sp." cases
sp_cases <- c("Akodon sp. Ancash", "Oligoryzomys sp. B")
results_sp <- validate_peru_mammals(sp_cases)
# Should match exactly

perumammals documentation built on Jan. 6, 2026, 5:06 p.m.