We are excited to introduce the new NCBI Taxonomy, with updated tools and resources to improve how you browse taxonomic information and access NCBI data, including sequences, genomes, and other resources. Highlights of the redesigned site include the Taxonomy Browser, Common Tree, and Taxonomy name/ID check status tool.
What’s new?
Redesigned Taxonomy Browser
As previously announced, the new Taxonomy Browser provides search autosuggestions, more informed navigation, flexible tree views, and enhanced access to sequences, genomes, and other NCBI resources.
The redesigned browser makes it easier to explore taxonomic relationships, view relevant taxonomic context, and move from taxonomy records to associated biological data.
Redesigned Common Tree
Common Tree lets you view an abbreviated NCBI Taxonomy tree based on taxa you select.
With the new Common Tree, you can:
- Use the search box to add taxa
- Upload a list of taxa of interest
- Choose whether to include standard ranks or all ranks
- View a hierarchical tree showing relationships among selected taxa and their common ancestors
- See taxa displayed with rank information and common names
- Easily remove a taxon from the tree
- Download the resulting tree as a text file
Common Tree is useful when you want a focused view of relationships among a specific set of organisms without navigating the full taxonomy tree.
Redesigned Taxonomy name/ID check status tool
The new Taxonomy name/ID check status tool helps you verify taxonomic names and identifiers.
Enter a list of taxon names or NCBI TaxIDs to find the current scientific name, rank, and NCBI TaxID. From the results, you can quickly access the full taxonomy record for each taxon.
More information
Find information about the NCBI Taxonomy data model, data processing, and the genetic codes here. LinkOuts using third-party provided links will be discontinued. External links to commonly accessed sites will continue to be available.
Programmatic access
All taxonomy data is available programmatically through the NCBI Datasets command-line tool. You can find more information here.
Transition timeline
These highlighted tools are part of a broader update to NCBI Taxonomy. The new resources are designed to provide a more modern and connected experience for browsing taxonomy and accessing related NCBI data.
The new resources will replace the legacy taxonomy pages and tools in October 2026. After that transition, old pages and tools will be redirected to the updated versions. FTP and E-utilities access will remain available.
We want to hear from you
Explore the new NCBI Taxonomy resources and try the redesigned tools today! Please reach out to us if you have questions or would like to provide feedback.