While browsing new observations made in Thailand, I encounter in almost every session following issues:
- a user can provide the identification at species level, but the species is missing:
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- it can be automatically imported
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- help by a curator is needed
- a user adds the Thai vernacular name as a comment (or in the placeholder)
I know how to do these things using the web page, but they might use the phone app instead, and things might look different there. Also, a description with words only may be harder to understand than a tutorial with annotated screen shots or even a video - so the user may not know how to do it next time (note that English is a really foreign language there) …
I use following texts to try to help (fill in the blanks accordingly):
Some names can be imported rather automatically: type the name (without the name of the describer - i.e. in this case: “”) into the id field, and then select “Search external name providers” from the list. In this case, the name was found there when I tried, and thus is now generally available on iNat.
(I often add then this identification though not knowing the species well enough, and delete it again when the original user or a different user has added it… uhm…)
I’ve flagged the species for curation, see
(link to flag)
By the way, anyone can flag a species for curation: go to the taxon page of the genus (in this case: ), there you will find a “Curation” botton. Click it and select “Flag for curation”. You may use a standard text as I did in this example.
Text used for flag:
species xy is missing. See observation (link to observation)
If the curator added the species without adding a comment in the linked observation, I add that identification as mentioned above.
Is “” the Thai name of the species? If so, you can add it: go to the taxon page by clicking on “” in your identification, there select “Taxonomy”, and there “Add a name”. Thus you can help Thai users who know the local name.