Why does my profile page state that I have encountered 455 species whereas my observation page states that I actually added 734 species. That’s a very different number. :) Is the smaller number my species that were identified to species level and the bigger number also includes genus, family etc.?
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/tomasp
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=tomasp&verifiable=any
There’s actually two different things going on. First, iNaturalist uses two different definitions of “species” totals. The one on the explore (your second link) is the number of unique taxa. For example, if you report something to genus-level but don’t have any other records of that genus, then it counts as 1. You’ll notice that if on that same link you click on the number of observers (1) it will show your name with the same number of observations, but a different count for species (618) - this is the number of true species, or unique species identified to species level or below.
The number on your profile page is just likely out of sync. You can update it by clicking on that number which will take you to your lifelist. Near the top is a “tools” button that you can click then select “re-apply list rules” which should update that number. You might also need to click the “reload from observations” button under tools.
It’s probably way more complicated than it needs to be. Personally, I’m an advocate of ditching the second species definition.
Nice succinct explanation! @tomasp, there’s also a longer explanation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/how_inaturalist_counts_taxa
Thank you for the explanation!
As a new user I note that my species count under MY Observations is radically more than my species count under My Profile. Why? I have asked several long time users but none had an answer.
Hi @kestrelhaven, since this question has been brought up a few times, I moved it to an existing topic. See the explanation and link above for more info.
Thanks.I could not find it when I searched before posting but as I said I am new at this site
Thank you all. I followed the suggestions and my species are now in synch. Sorry to start a new topic to get there. Appreciate the knowledgeable assist.
No problem at all! Welcome to the forum. :)
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