Ever wonder what iNat would look like if it was on a planet populated by intelligent… dogs?
Would the identification emphasis be on pictures or – scents? And how would that work? Hmm.
Or what about, say, technologically advanced ants? Probably more smell-dependent there, too. Maybe taste? Wow, that would be a big server.
How about a deep-sea water world? Maybe occupied by advanced cephalopods. Touch as a language? I wonder.
It’s a fun exercise that may remind us of other ways of identifying species diversity.
What’s your experience in identification based on something other than sight or sound? I’d love to hear some stories along that line.
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“Don’t forget to refill your pheromone dispensers to continue recieving the latest inat updates!”
[Internal] - Notice failed to send. Cause: insufficient pheromone levels in users device.
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safron
June 25, 2025, 1:17am
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It isnt my area of expertise but several mushroom species can only be identified to species through taste iirc. And frequently with plants, you will need to feel the underside or top side of the leaves or other features to see if they are smooth, rough, etc.
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Hmm… the planet Earth is populated with dogs, a lot of them highly intelligent, but they just haven’t made an iNat (as far as I know).
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I tried to imagine a cat-run world interested in other species, but somehow, I just kept thinking about how they’d be trapped by their own self-absorption.
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That doesn’t seem very different from a human-run world.
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That episode of Futurama where the cats try to steal Earth’s rotational energy comes to mind.
Right! I had the same thought. Except cats might understand better the importance of not destroying the systems that keep you alive.