Scythebill 15.9 is now available! Its main feature is the new IOC 13.1 taxonomy, but it also includes a number of smaller improvements. As always, download here, and let me know if you have any problems, either on Facebook or by email.
IOC 13.2 taxonomy
IOC 13.2 is just released, and is already supported by Scythebill. It's got 42 splits and 21 lumps - to see which affect you, visit the Splits and lumps special report. (This report shows what has changed from one older taxonomy to today's taxonomy - so for just the changes in 13.2, you want to look at what's changed since 13.1)
My "splits and lumps" report; only net plus-two, alas!
Butterflies of the World taxonomy
There is also a brand new Butterflies of the World taxonomy! It's a separate download, but it does take advantage of some newly added features (see below). And you may have missed it, but there's also Reptiles of the World and Odonates of the World released back in March, and there's also new updates for both of these taxonomies today.
If you want to upgrade from one of the older butterfly taxonomies covering just part of the world, it's a few quick steps:
- Switch to the older taxonomy.
- From "Show reports", use "Export sightings..." and "...to Scythebill CSV".
- Switch to the newer taxonomy
- From Import, use "Import from Scythebill"
Once you're satisfied with the results, you can delete the old taxonomy altogether (which will delete all your records for the old taxonomy).
This taxonomy comes from iNaturalist data (also true of the Reptiles and Odonates of the World taxonomies). That data is pretty good, but not as mature as the data for birds - both in taxonomy and in checklists, birds are in way better shape. If you find issues with these taxonomies, and you have access to quality, modern data, you can visit the iNaturalist site and make adjustments.
If it's a problem with the underlying taxonomy, you can add a "flag" to a taxon to get a curator to look at it. If it's a problem with the checklists, you can add species to a country's checklist directly. But, in any case, please only do so if you have some expertise or access to up-to-date resources. (For example, "I've got a 2001 field guide" might not be a good enough resource by itself, as taxonomy in these areas changes quite a lot.)
Species account links
In both the eBird/Clements and the Butterflies, Odonates, and Reptiles of the World taxonomies, when you select a species in "Browse by species" and other parts of Scythebill, you'll see a new link - "eBird page" or "iNaturalist page". These links will open up a browser on the associated pages, letting you quickly learn more about each species.
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| New "eBird page" link! |
Range and lifer maps for extended taxonomies
For "extended taxonomies" which include checklists - like the new Butterflies of the World checklist, or many of the other recently released world taxonomies - you can now click Range links and get a world map. You can also use the "World lifers map" to see where you might have the most possible targets.
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| And you thought Brazil had a lot of birds... there's over 2,500 butterflies! |
Fixing photo directories in bulk
Previously, if you moved photos from one directory to another, you'd have to click each one to point Scythebill at the new location. This was tedious, to say the least!
Now, if you fix one photo, Scythebill will see if it can find an analogous change to apply to the rest of your photos to fix them all at once.
Other changes
There's two new sighting statuses: "Better view desired" and "Unsatisfactory views". "Better view desired" is always countable, "Unsatisfactory views" is not. It is entirely your choice which of these statuses you want to use (or if you want to use them at all!)
