Is there a reason that my observation is not showing up on the map?

Bug Reports
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For some reason this observation is not showing up on the map: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28086600

It is an observation of a Tulip Tree, which is neither threatened or endangered, so I’m unclear why it doesn’t show up on the “Explore” map. The observation contains photos and my location data is set to “open”. Any ideas?

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I see your observation on the map given on the page you linked https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/28086600
But i dont think your observation will ever be visible on the map on page https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/53582-Liriodendron-tulipifera as you flagged your observation as “not wild”, making the observation “casual”.

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Hmmm, okay. Yeah, I can see it on the map on the actual observation page, but I was wondering why I couldn’t see it on the general “Explore” map, either on the app or website. I can see other trees that marked as “not wild” on this map, but not my observation. This tree is native to the area, however because it’s a public park I figure it was most likely planted.

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Can you share an example URL and/or screenshots where this is the case? “Not wild” observations are all excluded from the “Explore” maps on the website by default.

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All: I have also noticed that “Casual” observations do not show up on the map found on the species page. And, even though my own few Casual observations show up on the small map on the individual observation page for that one observation, I don’t believe other “Casual” observations of the same species show on that same map. I wonder whether, since iNat seems to accept such non-wild observations (calling them “Casual”), they could start to be mapped - but with a distinct teardrop. The “Research Grade” observations are marked with a teardrop with a white dot in the center, while the “Needs ID” observations have a plain teardrop. Could “Casual” be shown with a teardrop with a reversed color, for example Plants would be a white teardrop with a green dot, or perhaps green teardrop outlined in black or white? In this way, both the “wild” range of a species can be seen, and then also its “naturalized” range. The Overlay icon of that map could then have a toggle option added to remove/hide the “Casual” observations from the map, just like it now has “Verifiable Observations”. I occasionally see brown-shaded states and counties on the “species page map”, often with no observation teardrops, so am wondering if the brown color indicates a Casual observation is reported in that area (but then is not pinpointed). Thanks!

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Hi @ckneuppe, welcome to the forum!

Some casual observations do appear on the taxon pages by default. For example, if I observe a wild organism but do not have media evidence, the observation is casual, but it will still appear on the range map. For people who do not want to view non-verifiable observations on the taxon pages, they can uncheck the box next to “Observations w/o Media”:
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The brownish orange color on taxon page maps indicates that the species/taxon is on a checklist for that place, but has no research grade observations on iNaturalist:
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If you would like to propose a new feature, such as an opt-in option to display captive observations on a certain map, please submit a separate request to the Feature Requests category. There are some guidelines here: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/about-the-feature-requests-category/69

Thanks!

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