Does anyone else get annoyed by how many observations are marked as “unknown species”? I will make exceptions for audio only observations, but theres 2.3 million observations with pictures that are left blank. I think it’s weird because not only does iNat have an algorithm designed to ID species but…

Part of that cost-benefit assessment for me is how many years I have left and how willing I am to spend time on any poor record.

found this among the “trash” :-) https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/227571796/original.jpeg

I don’t view “unknown” as trash! I view it as “not yet named,” often because the poster doesn’t know what it is and has posted it hoping someone will identify it. I view “casual” as trash. But captive/cultivated observations aren’t trash, which is one of the reasons I’d like to see some changes i…

[image] sedgequeen: I view “casual” as trash. Not all casual observations are useless either. For example, I’ve recently added comments on casual observations of endangered plants missing locations and got responses that the observers didn’t put the location up because they were worried about…

Agree. I have some casuals. Some for example are host plants for non-casual wildlife that are clearly planted… I linked those with the wildlife that I actually wanted to observe and think this is very usefull (especially as I am not a plant person and am not able to just name the host… it´s better …

[image] DianaStuder: It’s hard but among the ‘trash’ there is absolute treasure. The sad part is, that is true of multi-species observations, too.

Absolutely - stunning picture of … why has nobody identified it yet?! Sigh, more multiples in limbo.

I know what taxonomy is. My understanding was that I was uploading photos so that people who know much more than I do can identify them correctly. I read a lot of instructions when I signed up, and I don’t remember any emphasis on “taking a guess” at the identification. What I wish this system had: …

But you can, add a comment with thanks or go and id some of their observations, they’ll appreciate it.

The people who ID are willing to do their best. We are by no means all expert so our ID might be as simple as … beetle … bird … Experts can then filter for their chosen taxon and take it further. Have a look how many Unknowns, or Needs ID obs there are in the queue ahead of yours. I am not a birde…

Does anyone else get bothered by how many observations are marked as "unknown species"?

General

jasonhernandez74 September 29, 2022, 10:41pm 172

The sad part is, that is true of multi-species observations, too.

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Does anyone else get bothered by how many observations are marked as "unknown species"?

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