diff --git a/src/neuroconv/schemas/base_metadata_schema.json b/src/neuroconv/schemas/base_metadata_schema.json
index 97d4479da..69762a6c6 100644
--- a/src/neuroconv/schemas/base_metadata_schema.json
+++ b/src/neuroconv/schemas/base_metadata_schema.json
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@
         "species": {
           "type": "string",
           "description": "Species of subject. Use latin name.",
-          "pattern": "^[A-Z][a-z]+ [a-z]+"
+          "pattern": "^[A-Z][a-z]+ [a-z]+|http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NCBITaxon_[0-9]+"
         },
         "subject_id": {
           "type": "string",