p.s. I might suggest moving the particular discussion I’ve initiated here to a General forum topic, but the existing “Common names invented on iNat” has become so massive and diffuse that new ideas are lost in it.
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/common-names-invented-on-inat/27452
Hello, I want to add two common names (in English) to this taxon (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/512409-Mergus-merganser-orientalis) but I don’t want to replace the current one. Just add the other two. Is there a way for me to do this?
Thank you!
If you follow the tutorial at the start of this topic, you will get the result you want. Adding a new name does not replace any existing name in the same lexicon.
If there are more than one name in a lexicon, the first one that was added becomes the default display name for that taxon, unless a curator decides to change which name displays by default for that lexicon. But all the names are still attached to that taxon, and any of them can be used to search for it.
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Thank you very much!
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There are slashes through the added names. What does that mean?
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That just means that you selected “False” to the question,
“If this is a scientific name, is it currently accepted?”
Since that is only needed when adding scientific name synonyms, I edited your two English names and changed the answer to “True” to eliminate the strikethrough display. For common names, that option only affects how they display and nothing else.
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Thanks! First time adding common names. Very exciting!
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Im collecting names for tadpoles in some African languages.
When I add the names how do I differentiate and inform others that it is the word for a tadpole and not an adult toad or frog. Also how do I add names for a young elephant, female elephant, solitary elephant, rogue elephant, pregnant elephant, dead elephant ? Why are there no notes sections that can be used to add precision to the words we add to the taxonomy?
Kitten and puppy are searchable words that lead to a cat or a dog. How do we do the same for an African language for any kind of young animal ?
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they lead to dog or cat, but there is no annotation that indicates these names refer to young dogs and cats
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I do wish we had a space where we can write notes about names, just as we write notes about observations and can have discussions and debate about them. I would like to be able to write about how commonly or rarely a name is used, is it used only by elderly people or by children, is the name for a fruit, root, tuber, seed or whole plant.
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I think this type of info about names is very interesting myself, but I also don’t think it is really a core focus of iNat. The fundamental reason for including common names on iNat is to enable users to provide an identification in their own language/using the terms that they are familiar with. Other info about names may be interesting but seems to me to be tangential to the focus and functionality of iNat. You could always write a journal post on iNat (or blog post elsewhere and link to it in comments) if you want to get the info out there.
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How can one edit a common name already listed? Although I have a UK location and normally see UK common names, some either come up with the American spelling (eg “slime molds”) or a non-standard English name (eg “lead-grey puffball” instead of the standard [recommended by the British Mycological Society] “grey puffball”). The names “slime mould” and “grey puffball” are already listed in the respective lexicons, so I cannot add them nor can I change them (so that they come up as standard for the United Kingdom). I assume the names were added but not linked to a location or only to “England” or somesuch. Ask a curator?
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Only curators (or the original creator, I think) can edit existing common names. Curators can also reprioritize names as well. So you can flag on the taxon page on iNat itself. Providing a link to a source in a comment on the flag can help.
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