Talk:3118: iNaturalist Animals and Plants

we probably need to add something about how bacteria are more common but not observable to the average person 72.203.83.113 16:36, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Why? Bacteria are not animals or plants. 2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:2C 17:45, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

The lack of fungi is perhaps more noteworthy. --86.13.226.126 16:44, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Why? Should they have appeared as significantly noted animals? 82.132.244.2 17:13, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

>"bacteria ....not observable to the average person" They is. Some special folks have microscopes. Lots of folks have aquaria or pond-scum and some of that is bacterial. My wetland (and brown well-water) is full of iron-bacteria. And then there are tree-galls (big cancer-like lumps) some of which are due to bacteria. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=67333 -- --PRR (talk) 17:30, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

Why are some states missing their postal code? IA, FL, AK, HI don't have them. Nolanmeyer (talk) 18:27, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Probably human error. 2001:4C4E:1C00:BF00:658B:2EF0:F9ED:69A 12:27, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Added a trivia section! --FaviFake (talk) 13:52, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

I am curious which animal and which plant are mentioned for the most states? Rtanenbaum (talk) 18:43, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Common Eastern Bumble Bee with 7 states [CT, IL, MD, MA, MN, VT, WI] and Common Milkweed with 6 states [IL, IA, MI, MN, NE, WI]Nolanmeyer (talk) 18:53, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

White-tailed Deer also has 7 states [IO, MI, MT, NH, PA, VI, WV] Rtanenbaum (talk) 19:16, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

You're right! My python script missed Iowa because of a capitalization error in the transcription. Nolanmeyer (talk) 19:32, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Is there a hidden joke in this one that needs explaining, or is it simply an interesting data map? 37.19.197.233

Looks like just an interesting map. Nothing wrong with that. --81.96.108.67 20:50, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Wrong. What's wrong with it is that there's no joke. It's not "comic" in any way. 70.16.143.48 (talk) 22:03, 21 July 2025 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

It may have derived from the earlier use of 'comic' implying a joke or humour, but the modern use of 'comic' for the artform does not. For example, Wikipedia refers to it as "a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information", which is exactly what this is. 82.13.184.33 10:41, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

How often did Prince Valiant or Spider Man have a joke? Also, so many of the zombine strips on the "funny" pages haven't been humourous for years. 2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:2C 20:23, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Ah, so the joke is that a lot of these are invasive species, or just from one person over reporting. That makes more sense. It's difficult to tell whether the silly names for animals and trees are real or parody. 212.56.54.115 21:16, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

There isn't a joke. There doesn't need to be a joke. 82.13.184.33 08:23, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

Big question: what does "most-observed" mean? Most reported? Most likely for a resident to see? Most likely for a resident to pay attention to? -- Dtgriscom (talk) 19:38, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

The comic already answers that question: "Not the most common species in the state, just the one people have reported the most times." 174.53.211.85 20:06, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

iNaturalist is a phone app used by people to help contribute to citizen science (i.e. help collect data for research), so people scan animals/plants that they see to send to iNaturalist databases to be identified automatically. Most-observed means the species that are most reported to the database (so the species with the most scans). The comic notes most reported ≠ most common since many people just ignore species of animals/plants they don't believe to be notable enough to take the effort to scan such as grass. 97.126.175.170 20:10, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

If people were reporting common animals they see, they'd probably be dogs and cats. And even more common would be insects -- a backyard probably has hundreds of ants living in it. Barmar (talk) 23:30, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

"reporting common animals they see," iNat members report what they think is worth reporting. I aint got time to figure if I see more cedar or maple-- in fact I reported a maple only cuz I found a spectaculary colorful maple leaf, a great picture. It is casual observations, not a strict census. (Yes, some observers get a bit obsessive, but still.......) Yes, dogs get reported a lot-- it is a great way to learn the process and you may already have good photos of Rover.

Does this app double as an identification tool? In that case it might also be animals/plants that people don't know and are curious about. (I live in Germany and have a similar app for plants, but I admit I mostly use it for stuff that catches my eye, not for stuff I think is scientifically worth reporting.)--176.199.208.178 07:36, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

>"double as an identification tool?" Yes. It has an expert-computer (pre-"AI") tool and also (human?) commenters, some very expert in a field. I get various 'salamanders' and iNat returns very specific identification. It's totally free. You don't have to use their 'app'. You should try it. --PRR (talk) 15:32, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

For the other U.S. Territories not mentioned (sorted animal, plant):

• Guam: Hawaiian Garden Spider, Coconut Palm
• Northern Marianas: Mariana Kingfisher, Alim
• American Samoa: Striped Surgeonfish, Fish Poison Tree
• US Virgin Islands: Green Iguana, Portia Tree

United States Minor Outlying Islands (collectively): Laysan Albatross, Stalky Grass

• Baker Island: Painted Lady, Rugosa Rose
• Howland Island: (not a valid location in iNat)
• Jarvis Island: Masked Booby, Sooty Tern (tie), (no plant)
• Johnston Atoll: Great Frigatebird, Beach Plant
• Kingman Reef: (no animal or plant)
• Midway Atoll: Laysan Albatross, Beach Naupaka
• Navassa Island: (not a valid location in iNat)
• Palmyra Atoll: Red-Footed Booby, Grand-Devil's Claws
• Wake Island: (not a valid location in iNat)

122.56.85.105 21:44, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

You seem to be confusing Baker Island (in the Pacific) with various Baker's Islands in New England. --2601:19B:4103:97F0:C0A5:13A4:35B3:1B35 11:20, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

The surprising part is that palmettos isn't South Carolina's and deer isn't Maine's, and Virginia Springbeauty is in Ohio. Strontium (talk) 03:21, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

> "deer isn't Maine's" Deer in Maine ain't what they used to be. Deer love abandoned farmland going back to wilderness. That happened in Maine in the 1930s as cars changed farming and vacationing. Much of Maine is more heavily wooded today than any time since 1800. I saw more deer in New Jersey. -- PRR (talk) 15:44, 23 July 2025 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Is there a category for the very rare XKCD strips which don't include any humour, even in the alt text? I can't think of any from recent years, which makes this one extraordinary, but I might be forgetting some obvious examples. 82.42.161.198 16:29, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Now counts I think? Both Money and the Election Challengers map have some humor iirc. 2600:1700:BF20:D10:1C87:359:5132:6A85 16:46, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

You could argue Now doesn't count because "assuming the Earth continues spinning" is likely intended as humor or at least is humorously pedantic. TheAnvil (talk) 17:19, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

@<yourfavouriteAI> please write a python script that replaces each name of a State, Plant, or Animal in this list by a link to en.wikipedia.org. (Or just do it directly.) --2001:16B8:CC3A:C700:452A:E6C7:F2AE:A2F8 18:14, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Not as the page currently stands. The only mention, currently, of the entire list is in the Transcript. Which should not be linked to anywhere.

This is actually an ideal article to use a (sortable) table for, in the Explanation itself. Three columns: State, Animal and Plant. In that, you can link each state and the first (and perhaps only) appearance of any wikilinkable fauna/flora. (You could add a symbol/key to each entry that's an invasive species, or use cell hues on a scale of green=natural to red=devestatingly displacing. Maybe fourth/fifth columns for such notes about the iNaturalist data, including what actually is officially the most common thing, objectively. But maybe not, if it clutters things up too much.)

And I also wouldn't trust an AI to write a script to do this. (Why not just ask the AI to give you the result directly, if you're so inclined?) Nor would I think it worthwhile to do such a convoluted way of doing such a simple task that's not even being reliably automated so that you could repeat it. Just think/act for yourself, in cases like these. AI is the new 2267: Blockchain, and still not in a good way. 82.132.244.114 19:28, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

I noticed that if you go to Randall's Bluesky account here and check the alt-text for the comics, there's a basic transcript available. Here's the one for today: The Most-Observed Animal and Plant in Each State on iNaturalist. (Not the most common species in the state, just the one people have reported the most times.) [labeled map of the US] WA: Mallard/Western Sword Fern. OR: Mule Deer/Western Ponderosa Pine. CA: Western Fence Lizard/California Poppy. HI: Green Sea Turtle/‘Ōhi’a Lehua. ID: Mallard/Big Sagebrush. NV: Common Side-Blotched Lizard/Creosote Bush. MT: White-Tailed Deer/Common Yarrow. WY: American Bison/Sticky Geranium. UT: Mule Deer/Utah Juniper. AZ: Ornate Tree Lizard/Saguaro. CO: Mule Deer/Great Mullein. NM: Mule Deer/Creosote Bush. AK: Moose/Fireweed. ND: American Bison/Prairie Rose. SD: American Bison/Hoary Vervain. NE: American Robin/Common Milkweed. KS: Ornate Box Turtle/Amur Honeysuckle. OK: Pond Slider/Eastern Redcedar. TX: Northern Cardinal/Pinladies. MN, WI, IL: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Common Milkweed. IA, MI: White-Tailed Deer/Common Milkweed. MO: Brown-Belted Bumble Bee/Amur Honeysuckle. AR: Three-toed Box Turtle/Chinese Privet. LA: Green Anole/Baldcypress. IN: American Robin/Amur Honeysuckle. OH: Eastern Pondhawk/Virginia Springbeauty. KY: Common Box Turtle/Amur Honeysuckle. TN: American Robin/Christmas Fern. MS: Northern Cardinal/Pale Pitcher Plant. AL: Gulf Fritillary/American Sweetgum. GA: Green Anole/American Sweetgum. FL: Brown Anole/White Beggarticks. NY: Eastern Gray Squirrel/White Snakeroot. PA: White-Tailed Deer/Garlic Mustard. WV: White-Tailed Deer/Great Rhododendron. VA: White-Tailed Deer/Eastern Poison Ivy. MD: White-Tailed Deer/Wineberry. DE: Fowler’s Toad/American Pokeweed. NC: Eastern Gray Squirrel/Christmas Fern. SC: Northern Cardinal/American Sweetgum. NJ: Spotted Lanternfly/Common Mugwort. VT: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Eastern White Pine. NH: White-Tailed Deer/Eastern White Pine. MA: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Eastern White Pine. CT: Common Eastern Bumble Bee/Striped Wintergreen. RI: American Herring Gull. ME: American Herring Gull/Canadian Bunchberry. Maybe the bot could add this. 50.190.39.57 17:51, 23 July 2025 (UTC)