`search_specimens`

Pack: idigbio · Connect: https://pipeworx.io/mcp (see Connect below for a single-pack URL)

No MCP client? Call it directly: GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_specimens for the schema, then POST the same URL with its arguments for the data.

Search ~150M digitized natural-history museum specimen records (plants, animals, fossils) from US collections via iDigBio. Filter by any combination of taxonomy and locality. At least one filter is required. Keyless.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
`scientific_name`	string	no	Scientific name, e.g. “puma concolor”, “quercus alba”. Matched case-insensitively.
`genus`	string	no	Genus, e.g. “acer”, “quercus”, “puma”.
`family`	string	no	Family, e.g. “felidae”, “sapindaceae”.
`country`	string	no	Country, e.g. “united states”, “canada”.
`state_province`	string	no	State or province, e.g. “florida”, “wyoming”.
`recorded_by`	string	no	Collector / recorded-by name, e.g. “macginitie”.
`limit`	number	no	Max records to return (default 10, max 25).

Example call

Arguments

{
  "scientific_name": "puma concolor",
  "limit": 10
}

curl

curl -X POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/idigbio/mcp \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"search_specimens","arguments":{"scientific_name":"puma concolor","limit":10}}}'

TypeScript (@pipeworx/sdk)

import { Pipeworx } from '@pipeworx/sdk';
const pipeworx = new Pipeworx();

const result = await pipeworx.call('search_specimens', {
  "scientific_name": "puma concolor",
  "limit": 10
});

More examples

{
  "genus": "quercus",
  "country": "united states",
  "limit": 20
}

Connect

Add this to your MCP client config — every tool in the catalog, including this one — or use one-click install buttons:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Connect to just the idigbio pack

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "idigbio": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/idigbio/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See Getting Started for client-specific install steps.

search_specimens