# GBIF Species Occurrence Normalizer (`wakey7dev/gbif-species-normalizer`) Actor

Search 3.9B biodiversity records with intelligent species name normalization. Common names → scientific names, taxonomy enrichment, geographic distribution summaries. Free GBIF API, no key required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/wakey7dev/gbif-species-normalizer.md
- **Developed by:** [Chris Wakefield](https://apify.com/wakey7dev) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

![Chris The Dev](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chriswakefield87/appstore-screenshot-translator/main/assets/actor-banner.png)

## GBIF Species Occurrence Normalizer 🌍🐾

Search GBIF's 3.9 billion biodiversity occurrence records with intelligent species name normalization. Enter common names like "mountain lion" or scientific names like "Panthera leo" — get cleaned, taxonomy-enriched occurrence data with geographic distribution summaries.

**Value-add over raw GBIF API:** Common name → scientific name resolution (200+ species), taxonomic hierarchy enrichment, country name normalization, human-readable output with geographic distribution tables.

### Input Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `searchQuery` | string | ✅ | Species name — common or scientific (e.g. "blue whale", "Puma concolor") |
| `country` | string | ❌ | Two-letter ISO country code filter (e.g. "GB", "US", "BR") |
| `yearStart` | string | ❌ | Start year for occurrence records (e.g. "2020") |
| `yearEnd` | string | ❌ | End year for occurrence records (e.g. "2024") |
| `maxResults` | integer | ❌ | Max records to return (1-500, default: 50) |

### Example Input

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "Puma concolor",
  "country": "US",
  "yearStart": "2023",
  "yearEnd": "2024",
  "maxResults": 50
}
````

### Example Output

```
================================================================================
  GBIF SPECIES OCCURRENCE RESULTS
================================================================================
  Query:          Puma concolor
  Scientific:     Puma concolor
  Taxonomy:       Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Carnivora > Felidae
  Rank:           SPECIES | Status: ACCEPTED
  Retrieved:      50 occurrences
  Countries:      12 countries

  #  Date         Country                   Lat      Lon Basis of Record
───  ──────────── ──────────────────────── ──────── ───────── ────────────────────
  1  2024-01-07   United States of America  34.7832 -119.5579 Human Observation
  2  2024-01-04   Mexico                    18.4429  -89.9585 Human Observation
  3  2023-12-15   Canada                    51.0234 -115.1234 Preserved Specimen
  ...

  Geographic Distribution:
    United States of America        23 occurrences
    Mexico                           8 occurrences
    Canada                           5 occurrences
    Brazil                           4 occurrences
    Argentina                        3 occurrences
    ...

  Data source: GBIF.org
================================================================================
```

### Use Cases

- **Environmental Impact Assessments** — Check species presence in project areas before development
- **Conservation Research** — Track species distribution across countries and time periods
- **Biodiversity Monitoring** — Monitor species occurrence trends for conservation planning
- **Academic Research** — Access cleaned, normalized biodiversity data for papers and studies
- **Biosecurity** — Track invasive species spread across geographic regions

### Data Source

This Actor uses the [GBIF Occurrence API](https://www.gbif.org/developer/summary), which is free and requires no API key. GBIF — the Global Biodiversity Information Facility — is an international network funded by governments worldwide, providing open access to biodiversity data.

Data license: Varies by dataset; most GBIF-mediated data is licensed under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) or [CC0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

### Pricing

$1.00 per 1,000 results. Each occurrence record counts as one result.

***

Built by [Chris The Dev](https://apify.com/wakey7dev) — passionate about making biodiversity data accessible and useful.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Species name to search for. Can be a common name (e.g. 'mountain lion', 'blue whale') or scientific name (e.g. 'Puma concolor', 'Balaenoptera musculus').

## `country` (type: `string`):

Optional two-letter ISO country code to filter by (e.g. GB, US, DE, BR). Leave empty for worldwide results.

## `yearStart` (type: `string`):

Optional start year for occurrence records (e.g. 2020). Leave empty for all years.

## `yearEnd` (type: `string`):

Optional end year for occurrence records (e.g. 2024). Leave empty for all years.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of occurrence records to return (1-500).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "Puma concolor",
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Complete occurrence records with normalized names, taxonomy, and geographic data.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Human-readable formatted summary of search results.

## `stats` (type: `string`):

Machine-readable statistics about the search results.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQuery": "Puma concolor",
    "country": "",
    "yearStart": "",
    "yearEnd": ""
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("wakey7dev/gbif-species-normalizer").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQuery": "Puma concolor",
    "country": "",
    "yearStart": "",
    "yearEnd": "",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("wakey7dev/gbif-species-normalizer").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQuery": "Puma concolor",
  "country": "",
  "yearStart": "",
  "yearEnd": ""
}' |
apify call wakey7dev/gbif-species-normalizer --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=wakey7dev/gbif-species-normalizer",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "GBIF Species Occurrence Normalizer",
        "description": "Search 3.9B biodiversity records with intelligent species name normalization. Common names → scientific names, taxonomy enrichment, geographic distribution summaries. Free GBIF API, no key required.",
        "version": "1.0",
        "x-build-id": "DFqU2f21bQVjcKCBh"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/wakey7dev~gbif-species-normalizer/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-wakey7dev-gbif-species-normalizer",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/wakey7dev~gbif-species-normalizer/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-wakey7dev-gbif-species-normalizer",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/wakey7dev~gbif-species-normalizer/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-wakey7dev-gbif-species-normalizer",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "searchQuery"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "searchQuery": {
                        "title": "Species Name",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Species name to search for. Can be a common name (e.g. 'mountain lion', 'blue whale') or scientific name (e.g. 'Puma concolor', 'Balaenoptera musculus')."
                    },
                    "country": {
                        "title": "Country Code",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional two-letter ISO country code to filter by (e.g. GB, US, DE, BR). Leave empty for worldwide results."
                    },
                    "yearStart": {
                        "title": "Year Start",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional start year for occurrence records (e.g. 2020). Leave empty for all years."
                    },
                    "yearEnd": {
                        "title": "Year End",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional end year for occurrence records (e.g. 2024). Leave empty for all years."
                    },
                    "maxResults": {
                        "title": "Maximum Results",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 500,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of occurrence records to return (1-500).",
                        "default": 50
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```
