# Add map lasso tool **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Requests\ **Tags:** web\ **Created:** [April 4, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831 "2019-04-04T23:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![edLike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@edLike](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/edLike)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/1 "2019-04-04T23:27:44Z")
Pull up a specific genus or family or order, etc. The tool allows you to circle an area on the map and creates a list of RG species within the circle of that genus or family or order, etc… ---
**Author:** ![tiwane](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tiwane/32/54612_2.png) [@tiwane](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tiwane)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/2 "2019-04-04T23:29:12Z")
@edLike I’m approving this for now, but can you please add some more details to your original post? I’m not sure exactly what you mean here. It would also be helpful to tell us exactly which maps/pages you would like to use this on. ---
**Author:** ![robirwin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/robirwin/32/1362_2.png) [@robirwin](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/robirwin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/3 "2019-04-04T23:57:17Z")
I agree that users need a map select tool to query occurrences - such as drawing a polygon or using a laso, in addition to just using the whole map to select within. This would be easy to add to the main map as a dropdown tool. Of course the iNat database might not support selecting by complex geometry. ---
**Author:** ![jilliankern](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jilliankern/32/26909_2.png) [@jilliankern](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jilliankern)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/4 "2019-04-05T00:24:47Z")
I feel like you can just use a search for this, if I’m correctly understanding your suggestion. You can enter a map boundary (street address, national forest, etc.) in location and then search by the genus, family, etc. with the box checked for RG only. Or if you wanted some sort of weirder location boundary you can search within Places to see if it already exists or import the boundary as a new place and do the same thing with filters. ---
**Author:** ![w\_martin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/w_martin/32/1564_2.png) [@w\_martin](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/w_martin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/5 "2019-04-05T04:53:10Z")
Something like this? ![x](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/a/a6add0d05b4c4753e99d75f43b3e18ff7715d662.jpeg) It seems like a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 6:45am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/6 "2019-04-05T06:45:19Z")
You can do it indirectly by creating a place with a boundary encapsulating where you want the search to take place. You can create the place to be enduring (choose the name with some care and thought etc) or you could create a temporary place and then delete it after you have your results. ---
**Author:** ![jwidness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jwidness](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jwidness)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:14pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/7 "2019-04-05T13:14:35Z")
You can also manually modify the URL to search within a rectangular bounding box. For example, this URL: [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=30.849458&nelng=-94.939413&swlat=30.220087&swlng=-95.792015&place\_id=any&taxon\_id=45994](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=30.849458&nelng=-94.939413&swlat=30.220087&swlng=-95.792015&place_id=any&taxon_id=45994) produces this search: ![boundingbox](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/2X/d/df4645c6d60591f16eb10e2edf58732d516479bb.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![tonyrebelo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tonyrebelo/32/317_2.png) [@tonyrebelo](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tonyrebelo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/8 "2019-04-05T13:16:58Z")
or ditto with a circular option - the url is : [https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?lat=-34.35&lng=18.906&order\_by=observed\_on&place\_id=any&preferred\_place\_id=113055&radius=2.7](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?lat=-34.35&lng=18.906&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&preferred_place_id=113055&radius=2.7) the radius is in km. ---
**Author:** ![edLike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@edLike](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/edLike)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/9 "2019-04-05T14:04:42Z")
@tiwane Currently if I want this type of info I will generate a “place” and then start a Project and select that place. With that I preview the project and get a list of all species observed and all observers. It has been a while since I did this. If I recall correctly, to get what I want I have to tease out the RG findings by species. The project does not get submitted because I can get the data from the preview. When I am done I delete the project. So the steps I follow can be quite involved, but even with all those steps it does save me time. I am just hoping an easier means can be created. As far as which pages? An example - Say that I want to see all RG findings for Superfamily Apoidea occurring on and around the Rocky Mountain Range at Boulder Colorado. I would open the taxa page for Superfamily Apoidea and go to the map. The lasso tool could be used to quickly mark the limits of the area of interest and retrieve the data. ---
**Author:** ![reuvenm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/reuvenm/32/65_2.png) [@reuvenm](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/reuvenm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-map-lasso-tool/1831/10 "2019-04-05T15:24:59Z")
I would bet this is too strenuous on the iNat servers to implement in the near future. But if not this would be awesome.