Terms of use

Every Organism is a free, non-commercial, open project that maps every known species. By using the site you agree to these terms. They are short on purpose.

Using the site

• You may browse, search and share links to anything on the site, with or without an account.
• Please do not disrupt the service: no attempts to break in, no automated scraping at a rate that degrades it for others, and no use of it to harm anyone. We may limit or block access that does.
• An account is optional and is for you alone. You are responsible for the Google or GitHub account you sign in with. You can delete your account at any time on the account page; we may close accounts that break these terms.

Accuracy

Names, classifications and facts are compiled from scientific databases, and some text is generated automatically from them. Taxonomy changes, sources disagree, and generated content can be wrong. Everything here is for curiosity and learning, not professional advice: do not rely on it to identify species for safety (for example whether a mushroom is edible), medical, legal or conservation decisions. If you spot a mistake, please tell us.

Data, photos and licences

The content comes from open sources, each under its own licence, and is credited where it appears:

• Catalogue of Life: the names and classification backbone.
• Open Tree of Life: the phylogenetic placement of taxa.
• iNaturalist: observation counts and photos; each photo carries its photographer’s Creative Commons licence, shown on the taxon.
• Wikimedia Commons: photos, each under its own licence and credited on the taxon.
• Wikipedia and Wikidata: article summaries (CC BY-SA) and structured facts (CC0).

If you reuse a photo or text, follow the licence shown with it, including the credit. Some photos do not allow changes (“ND” licences); we never crop them, and you should not either.

No warranty

The site is provided as is, without warranties of any kind, and may change or be unavailable at any time. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for any loss arising from its use.

Privacy

What we store and why is described in the privacy policy.

Changes and contact

We may update these terms; the new version will be posted here with a new effective date. Questions: michael.mm.may@gmail.com.