Hello all! This is probably not the first time that this happens on iNat, so I figured I’d ask: what is the protocol on fossil organisms? I just saw a beautiful fossil posted of a horsetail (Equisetum), but since it is not a “recent” evidence of an organism, I figured it should probably be made into a casual observation. Since iNat observations go into the GBIF database, and GBIF data gets used to create species distribution models, having fossils in there creates a mess. But maybe there’s a way to treat fossils on iNat that I’m not aware of? It is a cool find, of course!
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I find it polite to try to direct them to fossil ID and discussion forums also, but you don’t have to :)
There are also plenty of topics about fossils on the forum as well, you can see them here: https://forum.inaturalist.org/search?q=fossil
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Just so you know: it is not a fossil horsetail but a teleost fish
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If you tried directing me in that manner, I would ask you a question which was never answered here: Is There a Fossil Posting Site with a Phylogenetic View?
lol, yes, I realize this now 
I guess I did not look closely enough
MyFossil - https://www.myfossil.org/resources/mobile-app/
For a more European focus FossilFinder - https://www.spotteron.net/apps/regional-community-science-projects/fossilfinder-citizen-science-app
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Maybe we need an “iPaleontologist” lol.
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The fossil issue is more complicated than it seems, it must be determined by real specialists in the topic, otherwise it will be very bad. Plant fossils are an extremely fluid and difficult scientific topic, there are still lively disputes in this area, I know this well because I participate in such panels regarding fossils of the Equisetum genus.
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