Spectral dataset of natural objects’ reflectance from the Southern cone of South America

This dataset currently contains the spectral reflectance of 532 samples of natural objects, ranging from 400 to 1000 nm in 4 nm increments. These records correspond to plants (302 samples), animals (167 samples), and stones (63 samples). The objects were collected in the field, purchased at local fruit and vegetable markets, or borrowed from museum collections in San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina.The database is divided into three files corresponding to three main domains: Plants, Animals, and Stones. Each file has different data columns:• File name: File names were constructed as detailed in File name structure.txt. Briefly, they include the code for the corresponding secondary domain, followed by an underscore and three or four letters indicating the identity of the object, and finally, one to three letters indicating the human perceived color of the measured patch. (There are some exceptions to this protocol, see the File name structure.txt for details.)• Measurement date: We Included the date of data collection in day/month/year format.• Measurement angle: For iridescent colors, there were two measurement conditions according to the measurement angle, 0 or 45 degrees (see Methods for details).• Main domain: As mentioned, Plants, Animals, and Stones.• Secondary domain: In each of the main domains, we have categorized our objects into a number of secondary domains. For “Plants”, we included six: Barks (Ba), Flowers (Fl), Fruits (F), Leaves (L), Plant fruits (Fr), and Vegetables (V). We grouped the “Animals'” into three: Beetles (Be), Birds (B), and Butterflies (Bu). Finally, for the “Stones”, we have only one secondary domain (Stones, S).• Identity information:Object name: each object has a name assigned. For “Plants” and “Animals”, it refers to the taxonomic identity of the specimen (the less inclusive taxonomic identification available). For “Stones”, it refers to the identification of the object as a particular kind of rock or mineral.Family, genus, and species (only for plants and animals): for the samples of “Plants” and “Animals”, the available taxonomic information is provided. Cells for which we do not have information (some of the taxonomic categories could not be determined for some taxa) are indicated as N/D" (not determined). This information is not given for the “stones” main domain objects and we included the acronym “N/A” (not applicable).• Perceived patch color: Since many natural objects have more than one color discernible to humans, we indicated as a reference the color as perceived by researchers, of the patch from which the data was taken (See Methods for details).• Distributional status information (for plants and animals): This information is not given for “Stones” and we included the acronym “N/A” (not applicable). For natural species of “Plants” and “Animals”, we conducted a thorough search on the internet to determine their natural distribution areas, predating any anthropogenic modifications that may have affected them. Based on this, we present the following information:Distributional status: we assigned one of four categories to our biological samples: Native (when they correspond to taxa that naturally occur in environments within Argentina), Other South American (when they correspond to taxa that are naturally distributed in South American environments but their known distribution area does not include Argentina), and Exotic (when they correspond to taxa that are naturally distributed in other continents than South America). We stated a fourth category, Hybrid species, for hybrid plant species that escape the above categorization; in such cases, the term “hybrid species” does not specifically refer to their distributional status but rather to their origin from a manipulated crossbreeding of two natural species to obtain a variety with specific characteristics.Source [global]: we specify the principal source considered for determining the species' natural global distribution area.Source [Argentina]: for Argentinean species, we specify the principal source considered for confirming the species' natural distribution area in Argentina.• Other information (for plants and animals): This information is not given for “Stones” and we included the acronyms “N/A” (not applicable) for museum ID and sex, and “N/D” (not determined) for collection date and locality. For species of “Plants” and “Animals”, we provided museum ID (i.e., the number that identifies the specimen in a museum collection), the sex of the specimen, and the date and locality of the collection, when available. Cells for which we do not have information for museum ID and date and locality of the collection, are indicated as “N/A" (not available). Cells for which we do not have information for the sex of the specimen are indicated with “N/D" (not determined).<br><br>See the README file for further description of the folders and files in this dataset.