It would be cool to be able to discern overlap / exclusivity of subspecies ranges when looking at the map for a species. This could be accomplished by color-coding the pins on the map by subspecies the way they are color coded by taxonomic group when “exploring”. It could increase accuracy and eas…

I would be cautious of using ranges in iNat to make geographic based ssp IDs. Circular referencing. Where there is a clear boundary/barrier, and other evidence to support the geographic boundary, then sure. it would be cool to be able to analyse for such boundaries, and explore what might be the ca…

I think they just mean actual observations IDed to subspecies.

Yes, that would be a bad feedback loop. I intended it only for “Research Grade” observations ID’d to subspecies: Research Grade Observations at the level of the species could be one color and research grade observations of a subspecies would get a color specific to the subspecies. “Needs ID” at t…

I would still suggest this will promote circular reasoning. A lot of subspecies IDs are already made primarily on range in iNat, and explicitly delineating ranges of subspecies of the maps would probably just promote more of that behavior.

@bouteloua [image] arvel: It could increase accuracy and ease of identification. this is the concern for the feedback loop… @arvel For ssp with interfacing ranges, using the coloured pins and their extents on the map to support future IDs, even based on accurate IDs on the existing RG obs,…

[image] arvel: Pin color might start to get a little crazy with too many groupings. Yes, it might not be possible to keep unique colors for every taxon on the map. Even at the species level, we have things like https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59501-Astragalus-lentiginosus https://www.inat…

I think the range data is already used in the process to some extent. Maybe something more general would provide a cool and interesting way to browse the data: A map tool for mapping an arbitrary collection of color-coded species on the same map. The user would select a list of species and then m…

yeah, though you have to add the taxon IDs manually to the URL https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/map?taxa=42070,42076

Cool. That’s exactly what I was thinking. I think that’s an interesting way to interact with the data. A user interface for that could be a useful tool.

Just as an example, this is how xeno-canto.org (bird sounds platform) displays subspecies distribution (grey circles mean ‘no ssp defined’): Western Yellow Wagtail: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Motacilla-flava Dark-eyed Junco: https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Junco-hyemalis

Color code the pins for subspecies when looking at maps of species

Feature Requests

cthawley April 21, 2026, 12:12am 13

Just a note that some additional options/info for this type of display are available here:

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/create-a-distribution-map-which-includes-all-subspecies-ranges-of-a-species/77974

Topic		Replies	Views
Use unique colors for observation pins when searching for multiple species Feature Requests	17	2435	April 13, 2023
Create a distribution map which includes all subspecies ranges of a species General	5	131	April 20, 2026
Improve support / workflow for subspecies? General	16	1129	August 23, 2023
Question Regarding Subspecies Identification General question	25	2097	February 6, 2023
Request not to add subspecies ID? General	40	1627	December 29, 2025

Color code the pins for subspecies when looking at maps of species

Related topics