Editing Template:Speciesbox/doc (section)

== Usage ==
Usage is basically the same as {{tl|Automatic taxobox}} (with a few variations noted below).

There are five main cases to consider in using this template:
* [[#Simple cases|Simple cases]], where the species is not a hybrid so that the × symbol is not present, the genus name is unique and not duplicated between kingdoms, and the species is not the only one in the genus.
* [[#Hybrid botanical species|Hybrid species names]], where the symbol × is required.
* [[#Genus names duplicated across kingdoms|Species where the genus name is duplicated between kingdoms]], so the taxonomy for the genus must distinguish between kingdoms (e.g. [[Acanthocarpus (plant)|''Acanthocarpus'' (plant)]] and [[Acanthocarpus (crab)|''Acanthocarpus'' (crab)]]).
* [[#Monospecific genera|Monospecific genera]], where the species and genus articles are combined, with the article title being the genus name.
* [[#Parent taxon is not the genus|Parent taxon not the genus]], where the parent taxon must be specified as it cannot be deduced from the binomial.

=== Simple cases ===
If the article is about a species whose binomial and genus name are both straightforward (e.g., no rank between the species and its genus, no hybrid symbol, no parenthesized disambiguation in the genus name), then the minimum requirement is to specify the <code>taxon</code> parameter:<ref group=note name=N1>If the <code>taxon</code> or <code>genus</code>/<code>species</code> parameters are omitted, the template will try to use the page title as the taxon name. This is deprecated, since it is not self-documenting, so is confusing to editors not familiar with the template, and causes problems if the page is moved.</ref>
* {{para|taxon|name of the species without any formatting (e.g. Quercus major, Lobatus gigas)}}

:(Alternatively you can use the <code>genus</code> and <code>species</code> parameters separately – this is different from {{tl|Automatic taxobox}}:
:* {{para|genus|name of the genus without any formatting (e.g. Quercus, Lobatus)}}
:* {{para|species|specific epithet or name without any formatting (e.g. major, gigas)}}
:This slightly reduces the processing needed.)

It's not necessary to include {{tl|italic title}} in the article; this will be added automatically by the Speciesbox template if needed.

For more complicated cases, see the other sections below.

==== Simple examples ====
* Page at the binomial name; displayed taxobox to have the binomial name as its title, e.g. ''[[Lobatus gigas]]''.

{{tj|Speciesbox
 | taxon : Lobatus gigas ''--recommended&thinsp;<ref group=note name=N1/>''
 | authority : (Linnaeus, 1758) ''--optional; this is the authority for the binomial (species) name''
 ... ''--other optional parameters, e.g. for an image''
}}

:Alternatively, use separate parameters for the genus name and the specific name/epithet.

{{tj|Speciesbox
 | genus : Lobatus
 | species : gigas
 | authority : (Linnaeus, 1758) ''--optional; this is the authority for the binomial (species) name''
 ... ''--other optional parameters, e.g. for an image''
}}

* Page at the binomial name; displayed taxobox to have the common name as its title, e.g. ''[[Allium moly]]''.

{{tj|Speciesbox
 | name : Golden garlic ''--required if title of taxobox ≠ taxon name''
 | taxon : Allium moly
 | authority : L. ''--optional; this is the authority for the binomial (species) name''
 ... ''--other optional parameters, e.g. for an image''
}}

* Page at the common name; displayed taxobox to have the same common name as its title, e.g. [[Lily of the valley]].

{{tj|Speciesbox
 | name : Lily of the valley ''--optional (defaults to page title)''
 | taxon : Convallaria majalis ''--essential''
 ... ''--other optional parameters, e.g. for an image''
}}

==== Extinct species ====
If the genus is extinct, the extinct status will be picked up automatically from the taxonomy template for the genus, and a &dagger; placed before the species name in the taxobox.

If the species is extinct, but the genus is not, then to achieve the same effect, use one of
* {{para|extinct|yes}} (<code>true</code> is also accepted)
* {{para|extinct|DATE}} – for recently extinct species, such as the [[Dodo]], to show when it became extinct. DATE is free-form text: examples are "1780", "about 1700", "after 1791". The DATE text will be displayed if (and only if) {{para|status}} is set to "EX" or equivalents in different status systems.

=== Hybrid botanical species ===
The hybrid sign, ×, should not be italicized, whereas the rest of the binomial should be. The example below shows how to achieve the desired effect. In this case, the single <code>taxon</code> parameter can't be used.

 <nowiki>{{Speciesbox</nowiki> 
 | genus = Polygonatum 
 | species = × hybridum 
 | ... 
 <nowiki>}}</nowiki> 

Notes:
* The × character is available in the list under the edit text box. (If you use <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>{{hybrid}}</syntaxhighlight> , the automatic italicization of the article title won't work.)
* In the article body, you can either use <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>''Polygonatum'' × ''hybridum''</syntaxhighlight> , or <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>''Polygonatum {{hybrid}} hybridum''</syntaxhighlight>  to obtain the correct italicization.

=== Genus names duplicated across kingdoms ===
A special case is where the name of the genus is duplicated in different kingdoms, e.g. ''Acanthocarpus'', which is used for a plant and a crab. The taxonomy template for the plant has to be at [[Template:Taxonomy/Acanthocarpus (plant)]] to allow there to be a separate page at "Template:Taxonomy/Acanthocarpus (crab)". Consider the page ''[[Acanthocarpus preissii]]''. The taxobox has to be set up in this way:

<pre><nowiki>{{Speciesbox
| genus   = Acanthocarpus (plant)
| species = preissii
| ...
}}</nowiki></pre>

The corresponding taxonomy template for the genus, [[:Template:Taxonomy/Acanthocarpus (plant)]], contains the line:

:<code>| link  = Acanthocarpus (plant)|Acanthocarpus</code>

to ensure that wikilinks are to "Acanthocarpus (plant)" whereas the displayed genus name is "''Acanthocarpus''".

Note that this approach is ''only'' necessary when the disambiguation is needed because genus names are duplicated across kingdoms.<!--Need an example here? Previously used Liriope muscari, but now that there's a jellyfish genus with this name it doesn't work-->

=== Monospecific genera ===
Another special case is where the article is about a genus with only one species. The article will be at the genus name, but the final taxon to be displayed in the taxobox should be the species. An example is ''[[Aphyllanthes]]'', with the sole species ''Aphyllanthes monspeliensis''.

{{tj|Speciesbox 
 |taxon : Aphyllanthes monspeliensis 
 |parent_authority : L. ''--authority for genus''
 |authority : L. ''--authority for binomial (i.e. the species)''
 |... ''--other optional parameters''
}} 

The use of the Speciesbox template with the <code>taxon</code> parameter set to the species name ensures that the taxobox ends with the binomial name even though the page title is the genus name. The mediawiki software automatically replaces the generated wikilink [[Aphyllanthes]] by bold text since it goes to the same page. In this case we want to display the authority for both the species and the genus, since there is no other article. The parameters <code>parent_authority</code>, <code>grandparent_authority</code>, etc. are the way to display authorities up the classification hierarchy.

===Parent taxon is not the genus===
By default, the Speciesbox template uses the genus name as the name of the parent taxon. If this is not the case, because the parent taxon is at a rank between the species and its genus, such as subgenus or botanical section, then use:
*{{para|parent|''parent_taxon''}}

"Template:Taxonomy/''parent_taxon''" must then exist. Conventions for the name of a taxonomy template at a rank between species and genus include:
*"Template:Taxonomy/''Genus'' (''Subgenus'')" for a zoological subgenus, e.g. [[Template:Taxonomy/Mus (Coelomys)]]
*"Template:Taxonomy/''Genus'' subg. ''Subgenus''" for a botanical subgenus, e.g. [[Template:Taxonomy/Pinus subg. Pinus]]
*"Template:Taxonomy/''Genus'' sect. ''Section''" for a botanical section, e.g. [[Template:Taxonomy/Pinus sect. Trifoliae]]

Thus if a zoological subgenus is to be shown, then the taxobox is set up in this way:

<pre><nowiki>{{Speciesbox
| name = House mouse
| parent = Mus (Mus)
| taxon = Mus musculus
| ...
}}</nowiki></pre>

===Nonstandard formatting===
{{See|Template:Automatic_taxobox/doc#Exceptional_cases}}

In some exceptional cases the values shown for the species name and the binomial may require some non-standard formatting. A "binomial" with more than two "words", non-alphabetic characters other than a hyphen, or a need to leave some elements of the name unitalicized require nonstandard formatting. These cases are handled by {{tl|Automatic taxobox}}, not Speciesbox. Examples of exceptional cases include: provisional names for undescribed species (e.g. [[Quassia sp. 'Mount Nardi'|''Quassia'' sp. 'Mount Nardi']], where the provisional name should not be italicized), and uncertain genus placement (which may be specified with a ? as in [[Halictus? savenyei|''Halictus''? ''savenyei'']], or with "" as in [["Colostethus" poecilonotus|"''Colostethus''" ''poecilonotus'']].