# The California Species Project

> The most comprehensive open database of California plant and animal species.
> 10,600+ plants and 4,600+ animals with verified data from authoritative sources.

## About

The California Species Project aggregates species data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, BLM, USDA, USACE, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and IUCN into a single searchable platform. Each species page includes scientific classification, conservation status, habitat descriptions, morphological data, and distribution information.

## Species Pages

- Plant species: https://californiaspecies.com/species/{slug}
- Animal species: https://californiaspecies.com/animals/{slug}
- Slugs are lowercase-hyphenated scientific names (e.g., "quercus-agrifolia", "ursus-americanus")

## Key Data Per Species

- Scientific name, common names, family, genus
- Conservation status (CNPS rare plant rank, CESA listing, ESA listing, IUCN rank)
- Invasive status (Cal-IPC rating)
- Habitat description and elevation range
- Bioregional distribution within California
- County-level occurrence data
- AI-generated species description
- Morphological descriptions (from Jepson eFlora for plants)
- Bloom window (plants)
- Wetland status (USACE)
- BLM sensitive species status

## Browsing

- Full plant list: https://californiaspecies.com/species
- Full animal list: https://californiaspecies.com/animals
- Sitemap: https://californiaspecies.com/sitemap.xml

## Usage Terms

Data is provided for informational and educational purposes. Species data is aggregated from public sources and verified against authoritative databases. When citing, please attribute "The California Species Project (californiaspecies.com)".

Bulk downloading or scraping of species data is not permitted. Individual page access for answering user questions is welcome.

## Contact

Website: https://californiaspecies.com