diff --git a/R/datasets.R b/R/datasets.R
index 3440444..8611f91 100644
--- a/R/datasets.R
+++ b/R/datasets.R
@@ -16,11 +16,18 @@
 #'   this dataset.
 #' @param namespace Expert use only. Can be used to define separate namespaces
 #'   across which dataset names and keys do not have to be unique. Currently
-#'   only used for testing purposes.
+#'   only used by the coconatfly package.
+#' @param inherits The name of a previously registered dataset. See details.
 #' @param ... Additional named arguments specifying properties of the dataset
 #'
 #' @return No return value. Called for its side effect.
 #' @export
+#' @details You can use the \code{inherits} argument to simplify adding an
+#' additional handler for an existing dataset. For example imagine you have some
+#' of your own annotations that you would like to supplement publicly released
+#' ones for the banc dataset. You can register a new dataset \code{bancx} and
+#' inherit from the \code{banc} definition and only replace the \code{metafun}
+#' argument keeping everything else the same.
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' \dontrun{
@@ -30,7 +37,7 @@
 register_dataset <- function(name, shortname=NULL, species=NULL,
                              sex=c("F", "M", "H", "U"), age=NULL,
                              idfun=NULL, metafun=NULL, partnerfun=NULL,
-                             namespace='default', ...) {
+                             namespace='default', inherits=NULL, ...) {
 
   ns=dataset_namespace(namespace)
   nn=ls(ns)
@@ -39,6 +46,14 @@ register_dataset <- function(name, shortname=NULL, species=NULL,
     ns[[name]]=NULL
   }
 
+  baselist <- if(!is.null(inherits)) {
+    if(!inherits %in% nn)
+      stop("You have asked to inherit from a non-existent dataset:",
+           inherits,
+           "\nNB hard-coded coconatfly datasets do not yet support this mechanism.")
+    dataset_details(inherits, namespace = namespace)
+  } else NULL
+
   if(is.null(shortname))
     shortname=unname(abbreviate(name, minlength = 2))
 
@@ -48,7 +63,7 @@ register_dataset <- function(name, shortname=NULL, species=NULL,
     idfun <- function(ids, integer64=FALSE) {default_id_fun(ids, metafun = metafun, integer64 = integer64)}
 
   mf <- match.call(expand.dots = FALSE)
-  ns[[name]]=list(
+  newlist <- list(
     name=name,
     shortname=shortname,
     species=species,
@@ -60,6 +75,14 @@ register_dataset <- function(name, shortname=NULL, species=NULL,
     call=mf,
     ...
   )
+  if(!is.null(baselist)) {
+    newlist=newlist[!sapply(newlist, is.null)]
+    baselist[names(newlist)]=newlist
+    newlist <- baselist
+
+  }
+  ns[[name]]=newlist
+
   invisible()
 }
 
diff --git a/man/register_dataset.Rd b/man/register_dataset.Rd
index b6b48d1..4fb6bc9 100644
--- a/man/register_dataset.Rd
+++ b/man/register_dataset.Rd
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ register_dataset(
   metafun = NULL,
   partnerfun = NULL,
   namespace = "default",
+  inherits = NULL,
   ...
 )
 }
@@ -40,7 +41,9 @@ this dataset.}
 
 \item{namespace}{Expert use only. Can be used to define separate namespaces
 across which dataset names and keys do not have to be unique. Currently
-only used for testing purposes.}
+only used by the coconatfly package.}
+
+\item{inherits}{The name of a previously registered dataset. See details.}
 
 \item{...}{Additional named arguments specifying properties of the dataset}
 }
@@ -50,6 +53,14 @@ No return value. Called for its side effect.
 \description{
 Register a dataset for use with coconat and related packages
 }
+\details{
+You can use the \code{inherits} argument to simplify adding an
+additional handler for an existing dataset. For example imagine you have some
+of your own annotations that you would like to supplement publicly released
+ones for the banc dataset. You can register a new dataset \code{bancx} and
+inherit from the \code{banc} definition and only replace the \code{metafun}
+argument keeping everything else the same.
+}
 \examples{
 \dontrun{
 # partial example. metafun and partnerfun are pretty important to specify
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-datasets.R b/tests/testthat/test-datasets.R
index 447d93c..5f5565e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-datasets.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-datasets.R
@@ -7,5 +7,9 @@ test_that("dataset support", {
   expect_equal(dataset_names("h", namespace = 'testthat'), "hemibrain")
 
   expect_equal(dataset_names("h", namespace = 'testthat', return.short = T), "hb")
+
+  expect_silent(register_dataset('flywirex', shortname = 'fx', namespace = 'testthat', inherits = 'flywire'))
+  expect_equal(dataset_details('flywirex', namespace = 'testthat')$sex, 'F')
+
   remove_namespace('testthat')
 })