Catalogue of Life

The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an assembly of expert-based global species checklists with the aim to build a comprehensive catalogue of all known species of organisms on Earth. 

As a global species checklist, continuous progress is made towards completion of the Catalogue of Life, but for now, it probably includes just over 80% of the world’s known species. The Catalogue of Life estimates 2.3M extant species on the planet recognised by taxonomists at present time. This means that for many groups it continues to be deficient, and users may notice that many species are still missing from the Catalogue.