Data

Everything on this site comes from the Open Paleo dataset, which is free to use under CC BY 4.0 with attribution to Open Paleo contributors. The files below are the dataset's built output, maintained in the open-paleo/data repository.

Release: 2026.11
Output schema: 3.3.0
Built: November 8, 2026
Contents: 1,428 genera, 188 clades

Downloads

File	Contents	Size
open-paleo.json	The complete dataset as JSON: every genus, clade and reference, and the tree.	10.2 MB
open-paleo.yml	The same dataset as YAML.	8.5 MB
open-paleo.schema.json	JSON Schema (2020-12) describing the JSON and YAML output.	22.5 kB
tree.newick	The clade tree in Newick notation, for tree visualization software.	3.0 kB
tree.nexus	The clade tree in NEXUS format, for phylogenetic analysis tools.	4.5 kB
references.bib	Every cited work as BibTeX.	1.1 MB
bindings/open-paleo.d.ts	TypeScript type declarations for the JSON output.	16.6 kB
bindings/open_paleo.py	Python Pydantic v2 models for the JSON output.	20.4 kB

Build against the JSON or YAML output and validate it with the schema: the files under dist/ are the dataset's stable, versioned contract, and its versioning policy explains what each version number promises.

How to cite

Cite the release you used, so others can reproduce your work:

Open Paleo contributors. (2026). Open Paleo (Version 2026.11) [Dataset]. https://github.com/open-paleo/data

@misc{openpaleo,
  author    = {{Open Paleo contributors}},
  title     = {Open Paleo: A community-maintained phylogenetic dataset for paleontology},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {GitHub},
  url       = {https://github.com/open-paleo/data},
  note      = {Version 2026.11}
}

The dataset rests on published literature. If your work draws on it, consider citing the original papers too: references.bib lists every one.