One of the greatest challenges to sharing biodiversity data is the differing taxonomies adopted by each data source. Because the science of taxonomy is an active field, with new data being analyzed on a continual basis, debates on species boundaries and higher-level relationships lead to different taxonomic interpretations. It is common for one data publisher to use a different taxonomy compared to another. In addition, incongruence can also develop in biodiversity data when one database is continually updated, while others are left unchanged. For the Amphibian and Reptile Atlas of Peninsular California, we have based much of our taxonomic decisions on Crother (2012), but have also chosen to follow alternative names for a small number of species when the primary taxonomic literature warranted it or are excluded from their coverage.

Crother, B. (Ed.). 2012. Scientific and standard English names of amphibians and reptiles of North America north of Mexico with comments regarding confidence in our understanding. Seventh Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Herpetological Circular 39:1-68.