# Merging one taxon into another **URL:** \ **Category:** Curators\ **Created:** [April 26, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545 "2019-04-26T00:15:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zygy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/zygy/32/1134_2.png) [@zygy](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/zygy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545/1 "2019-04-26T00:15:55Z")
I was trying to resolve the flag on Bellota longimana, but am not sure how to do it properly. We currently have two different taxon IDs for the same actual taxon: Bellota longimana and Cheliferoides longimanus. These are the same species and the correct name is Cheliferoides longimanus. So basically I just want to merge Bellota longimana (which has all the observations) into Cheliferoides longimanus (which has all the species info). It doesn’t look like there is a way to do this in the Taxonomic Change interface though. I tried doing a Merge but it requires at least 2 input taxa and neither of them can be the same as the output taxa. As the description of the merge feature says, it’s for merging “Several old taxa lumped into one _new_ taxon”. Looking at the other tools, neither Swap nor Drop seem appropriate as they are just for dealing with a single taxon. I could drop Bellota longimana, but then what happens to those observations? ---
**Author:** ![cmcheatle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/cmcheatle/32/37_2.png) [@cmcheatle](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/cmcheatle)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545/2 "2019-04-26T00:20:11Z")
> [@zygy](#): > > Bellota longimana Just a note that you would not actually be able to run this change. Spiders are one of multiple orders (including but possibly not exclusively birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, dragonflies and others I am sure I am forgetting) that are called ‘locked’ taxa. This means normal curators can not apply taxa changes to them, only a designated curator for the taxa can do so. Normally you would do it as a swap, the taxa you want to inactivate going into the left or input taxon box and the one you want to keep into the right or output taxon box. ---
**Author:** ![zygy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/zygy/32/1134_2.png) [@zygy](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/zygy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545/3 "2019-04-26T14:18:18Z")
> [@cmcheatle](#): > > designated curator for the taxa So who’s the designated curator for spiders? ---
**Author:** ![cmcheatle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/cmcheatle/32/37_2.png) [@cmcheatle](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/cmcheatle)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545/4 "2019-04-26T14:26:31Z")
Right now there are 2. One is Scott Loarie, and I happen to be the other. I processed this update last night. As a general rule when there are observations that will be impacted, we try and get community feedback before implementing a change. If there are no impacted, then generally we will align to what is in the World Spider Catalog, which is the designated reference the site follows for spider taxonomy. ---
**Author:** ![zygy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/zygy/32/1134_2.png) [@zygy](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/zygy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545/5 "2019-04-26T14:27:45Z")
@cmcheatle - Thanks for all the info! ---
**Author:** ![bouteloua](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/bouteloua/32/1180_2.png) [@bouteloua](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/bouteloua)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545/6 "2019-04-26T14:28:07Z")
You can check to see who the taxon curator is by going to the taxon page\>Taxonomy tab, then clicking “Taxonomy details”, which brings you to a page like this: [https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47118/taxonomy\_details](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47118/taxonomy_details) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/7/7831452cf7f0d653ff1ffd34176334b7ef1b6a17.png) [@system](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/merging-one-taxon-into-another/2545/7 "2019-06-25T14:37:16Z")
Closed on June 25, 2019, 2:37pm UTC This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.