README.md
In reptiledb.data: Reptile Database Data

reptiledb.data

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:

Snakes 🐍
Lizards 🦎
Turtles 🐢
Amphisbaenians
Tuataras
Crocodiles 🐊

It currently includes:

Over 10,000 species
Approximately 2,800 subspecies
Taxonomic hierarchy (orders, families, genera, species, synonyms)
Distribution and type locality data
Literature references and nomenclatural information

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] 12439

The 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.