As someone with little to no experience at identifying anything apart from really common East Cost North American species, I always appreciate when an expert ider writes notes how they arrived to their ID. Sometimes keys for really obscure groups are impossible to find or just straight up don’t exist, so I appreciate the notes because it helps me know what is important to look out for / include in an observation for next time. Perhaps I’ll even be able to recognize that species next time and help others out too!
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I really appreciate detailed identification notes when I come across them on iNat, and particularly of course when someone takes the time to add them along with their ID to my observations. I’ve learned identifying features that way that are not even part of any key I have access to. Sometimes I will write lengthy notes myself, e.g. list the relevant part of a key, mainly as a reminder to myself. If I ID something today after spending two hours looking through books and keys, it doesn’t mean when I see the same organism next year I still remember what steps led me to the ID. So having it written out helps jog my memory and save time on redoing it all over again.
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I’ve become extremely cautious about IDs lately. When I make an observation of a species I’m not familiar with, I’ll often add a high-level ID rather than a guess (even if I’m, say, 80% confident in the guess). When someone adds a more precise ID, I tend not to agree with them even if I’m sure they’re right. I think I might be taking it a little far with that, but the more you know, the less you think you know, so I’m not at all confident in my abilities. If anyone’s ID disagrees with mine I check their profile to see if they know what they’re talking about, and if I can’t find a reason to distrust their ID I’ll withdraw mine. Once again, I usually don’t agree with them (even if they provide their identification steps) but I do trust their ID more based on that information, and I try to remember their advice for later. If I really wanted that observation to be RG for some reason, I would try to verify their thought process in order to confirm the ID, but I never blindly trust in someone else’s expertise.
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I for one use iNat primarily as a means of increasing my own id skills. So I am always very happy and appreciative when an identifier gives me any clue to how they came to their conclusion. I reciprocate when I have something to add. Usually I give just a terse list features that drove me to an id, but I will sometimes link to outside sources such as a comparison between two species.
Answer: Yes it is useful and appreciated by many.
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I appreciate the hell out of it personally. But for your own sanity maybe make keep something to copy paste rather than typing it out all the time
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Well, I really only do this for taxa that I have to research in order to ID. Which, unfortunately, are the same ones everybody else has to research in order to ID, which is why they rarely make Research Grade.
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Yes, this would be so helpful. It would be wonderful to see several such descriptions linked to create a guide. I’m really happy when I learn to be able to share something like “Good photo of the distinctive black chevrons on the hind femur. Reference: https://idtools.org/id/grasshoppers/factsheet.php?name=13190” (see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139576117) and something like this would help me know what details to photograph.
It’s also wonderful to learn when there is just one species of something. I’d ID many more plants, but I don’t know how to tell whether there are other species of wild plants that I recognize as a long-time gardener.
You can click the taxonomy tab for the genus, and see if there’s a list of species. Or just the one. (We have a helpful shiny new project for ours)
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I would like everyone who questions an observation to provide information. There is nothing more galling than knowing that you observation is accurate and having it corrected mistakenly without reason.
you can ask, and almost everyone will reply
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I’ve started doing this with anything difficult to ID. Weakley’s Flora is the definitive guide for the Carolinas where I live, so I literally cut and paste the key from the PDF, pruning the branches that aren’t relevant. I like to think that this will help others, but I know it helps me. A year or two later, I can’t remember why I ID’s something a certain way, and this provides a clear record. Here’s an example:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/136832514
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I don’t know how you define helping you or helping others; but I would only find that worthwhile if a reviewer follows the key, too, and either agrees or disagrees with my ID.
yes - because it is there for everyone who comes to that obs down the years. It isn’t only about the observer and actively visible commenters and identifiers. Those few people are the tip of the iceberg.
Text may also be copypastaed forward as - Glen says it is … species because …
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I am impressed by your strategy and wish everyone did that. It is enormously helpful. There actually might not be a lot more to add though :) but it is helpful…
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I often add a tag “The More You Know” on my observations which have useful comments. That way, they’re easier to find. Maybe others could too.
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I also refrain agreeing with an identifier unless I can also defend the ID. If somehow all people would begin to do the same it would be the number one improvement to iNat. I do sometimes propose ID’s that I only can defend based on location, the iNat AI, and that the iNat AI is of a plant family or insect order that I can ID. I think that’s okay for the initial ID because it doesn’t take it to research grade.
And yes, @jasonhernandez74 I think it’s great that you write out the steps. I do that as well for the difficult genera that I am struggling to learn. It also gives the experts some way to help me learn by seeing where I went wrong… such as “those are not glands, those are bristles” etc.
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Marsh Ramshorn (Planorbella trivolvis) from American Canyon, CA
In this case, it did make Research Grade.
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So, based on the gist of the comments, yes, it is useful, but for every reason BUT the reason I was hoping for.
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As an aspiring IDer I am trying to absorb the culture and knowledge via what I see others doing. If I saw someone credible providing a useful approach, I would begin to mimic it (to the best of my ability). As someone going through my own learning process, I think about how to pay if forward when I do learn.
I actually just came to the idea of searching a taxa for comments tonight. Which I see everyone on this thread had already figured out. I started taking notes on resources tagged in comments. I like that your approach teaches new people and encourages experts to engage with the post, esp if they disagree.
I don’t know if this is the answer you were looking for.
BTW- I also took some notes on resources in this thread. Every time you share something, it has the potential to be picked up. thank you!
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my state (alabama) has some wonderful free pdf online tree ID guides provided through the forestry service for the state - but it’s kinda burried and you have to know how to look for it. that may be a place to look for good keys for your state - at least for common things - is your state DNR and Forestry departments. That is if you are in the US
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