I’d like for iNaturalist to take this issue more seriously. Here’s one aspect of it: one of the things documented by herbaria is the past usage of plant names. You have a plant with an identification from 100 years ago right there on the sheet. This is a reason I opt out of community ID. If you opt…

I mean they don’t change. Opting in to community ID does not affect this. It means IDs will be falsely attributed to you. Your ID still does not change.

And, no, there is no “past synonym becoming invalid”. That is not what happens.

Not arguing with you here, but I’ve always questioned the idea that any lower-level taxon can be considered “invalid” since all names are hypotheses about relationships and can be revised based on new data. There are many old taxonomic names and arrangements that fell out of use for a century or mo…

The “accepted” and “not accepted” designations by ITIS are statements of opinion. Both Sedum album L. and Oreosedum album (L.) Grulich are validly published, legitimate names. If one believes the species is placed in the genus Sedum, one should call it Sedum album. If one believes the species is pla…

“Instead as I said, when I refer to ID’s changing as part of a taxon swap (due to a taxonomic revision) I didn’t mean you changed what your original ID was, I meant iNat changes (revises) the name of the ID itself which has been submitted to the system (for users who opt in at least).” If you wante…

Check the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Let me know where you find any statement in there that says “a name is invalid if an official taxonomic authority like ITIS says it is not accepted”. :-)

“We certainly do only call the active one “valid” in such cases” – You might. :-) I don’t. ICNafp does not. ITIS does not. Tropicos does not. USDA PLANTS does not. POWO does not.

You really should check ICNafp. Oreosedum album (L.) Grulich is a validly published, legitimate name. There isn’t anything funny about that particular example and it’s not a question about whether or not the generic placement is “contested”. The validity & legitimacy of the name is a totally separat…

The Sedum example is not ambiguous. I’m familiar with the Interational Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. I’m not very familiar with the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. So I’m refraining from offering an opinion outside my area of expertise. “By valid I’m (only) refe…

“And what reasoning or source are you using?” I’m going by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. You should read it. Seriously. “I can only speculate that you may be referring to some technical sense in which any synonym remains a synonym that can equally be used, bu…

Taxonomy changes and preferences vis a vis long-term iNat data use

General

tiwane March 5, 2022, 5:32pm 70

Moved this long discussion from https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/where-will-your-data-go-when-you-die/29801/57 and closed it and the discussion looks to have run its course.

Topic		Replies	Views
Improving iNaturalist's nomenclature & taxonomy General	77	3060	January 11, 2023
Opting out of taxonomy changes General	40	1255	October 14, 2022
Changing of ID from specific species to higher taxa General	29	1411	December 18, 2019
Why opt out of Community ID? General	95	3103	October 5, 2022
Concerns over opting out of community taxon General	81	2875	May 18, 2025

Taxonomy changes and preferences vis a vis long-term iNat data use

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