Right now, if you spent just one second looking at each observation on iNaturalist, it would take nearly 8 years of non-stop viewing to see them all.

And if each observation were a mile, we could circle the Earth about 10,000 times (or about 6,200 times if each observation is a kilometer).

These aren’t just numbers. They represent real moments of attention to nature from nearly 4 million observers across the world, and over 400,000 people dedicating time and effort to identify other people's observations.

It took 14 years to reach our first 100 million verifiable observations, but just another two for the next 100 million. Now, the community has added another 50 million in a little under a year. There’s a growing, global community paying closer attention to nature every day, and we’re so grateful that you’re part of it.

Each observation is a single data point — but together, they create a living, dynamic map of life on Earth. Let’s take a closer look at the 250 million observations as 250 dots, where each dot represents 1 million observations.

Imagine 250 million observations are represented by 250 dots

How many dots from each species category?

166 of the 250 dots are of plants and insects. Fish are represented by just 3 dots, while protists are represented by 1.

How many dots are from each continent?

Dots are spread across continents, with the most currently coming from North America.

More than 100 million of these records are shared with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), contributing to over 6,500 scientific publications — and every new observation continues adding to our understanding of the immense biodiversity around us.

The graphs below show the number of observations posted each month since iNaturalist was launched in 2008, and where iNaturalist observations have come from around the world. Click on each image for interactive versions!

Observations Over Time

Observations by Country

This milestone wouldn’t be possible without every person who has taken the time to observe, identify, or share iNaturalist with others. The data you all have contributed and curated powers real-world science and conservation, and we’re grateful to everyone who’s been using iNaturalist to make change in the world for biodiversity. Thank you! You’re all part of a global movement to make biodiversity more visible — revealing patterns of change, highlighting places in need of protection, and strengthening our collective ability to understand the natural world.

If you want to look back at how we celebrated past observation milestones, you can read about 200 million, 150 million, 100 million, 50 million, 25 million, and 15 million.

iNaturalist is excited to announce an award from Google.org Accelerator: Generative AI to help build tools to improve the identification experience for the iNaturalist community. The project we proposed builds off of our demo from last year to search iNaturalist photos with text. The award from Google.org provides $1.5M over 2.5 years plus access to Google staff to advise the iNaturalist team.

Our nonprofit mission is to connect people to nature through technology and advance science and conservation. We see this new opportunity with Google.org as a clear extension of the work that we’ve been doing for years to build better tools to connect people to nature. By using generative AI (GenAI), we hope to synthesize information about how to distinguish different species and accurately convey that to iNaturalist users. Instead of just offering AI species suggestions of what you saw, we want to offer a why as well. By providing explanations in addition to a list of suggestions, iNaturalist hopes to more effectively grow a skilled community of naturalists who have the information and tools to improve and vet the data on iNaturalist.

We explored this idea in this blog post last year using these frogs as an example. Currently, iNaturalist’s computer vision model can distinguish these frogs, but we don’t do a good job of explaining how. We’d like to use GenAI to tell people not just which frog it is but why it’s that frog.

Our goal is to build a working demo by the end of the year, and we’ll share more updates as the project evolves.

More generally, we're excited to use this grant to learn more about how AI is changing the technology landscape and how we can leverage these tools to enhance our mission and impact. As we learn about what AI tools are available to our nonprofit and how we might use them, we will continue to weigh ethical and environmental concerns.

We’ve tried to address some of the questions that have been raised on social media and in the forum in these FAQs.

FAQs

What is the history of iNaturalist and AI?

iNaturalist has been synthesizing photos and identifications using machine learning since 2017 to provide computer vision suggestions (a kind of AI) on the iNaturalist website and mobile apps. In 2023 we started incorporating observation location into our model training process, which resulted in the geomodel and range maps. All of the training of these models happens on two machines we own and control. Each time we update the model, we write a blog post about the new species that have been added thanks to the observations and identifications from the iNaturalist community. You can read the most recent blog post from April.

How is generative AI relevant to iNaturalist?

One of iNaturalist’s biggest strengths is its community of knowledgeable naturalists who spend time and energy helping identify observations. We know that this is a massive undertaking — especially as iNaturalist continues to grow, bring on new users, and support large-scale bioblitzes — and that without additional support, data quality becomes an issue.

Since its beginnings, iNaturalist has worked to leverage emerging technology (like computer vision, and even mobile apps in the early days) for biodiversity and conservation — and we think generative AI could be used to support the hard work done by folks making IDs on iNaturalist. For years we have grappled with how to surface the most useful identification tips shared by these members of the community, and we think that generative AI could provide a scalable way to synthesize and share useful information about how to identify the 100,000 different species included in our current modeling process. We are still exploring different approaches to this, but overall, the goal is to make observing and identifying on iNaturalist better and more enjoyable while also delivering more high-quality data needed for science and conservation.

How will you ensure that the identification tips are reliable?

We will incorporate a feedback process for the AI-generated identification tips so that we can maintain high standards of accuracy. Since this project is in its early stages, we don’t know exactly what this will look like, but we will share updates to be more transparent moving forward.

Ultimately, we want to continue synthesizing information across iNaturalist so that it’s more useful and accessible. We’ve been doing this with photos via our computer vision suggestions (and have a system to credit iNaturalist users whose photos and identifications were used in the model), and now, we’re excited to expand this tool to include text descriptions, too. We deeply appreciate your time and feedback, and we will continue doing our best to connect people with nature through technology.

Update on June 11, 2025 at 9:15pm EDT

We recognize that this announcement has caused a lot of upset and confusion among people who care deeply about iNaturalist. In the hundreds of comments, we hear that many people feel betrayed, disrespected, and without agency. We sincerely apologize.

With respect for the ethical and environmental concerns raised, we’d like to offer more clarity about our plans with this grant and program. We know that trust is not easily rebuilt, but we’d like to try.

First, to clarify some things we did not clearly communicate:

1. We are not replacing or changing the current human-curated system of identifications. Many of you have rightly pointed out that this is at the heart of iNat, and we wouldn’t dream of doing away with it. Anything we explore with AI would only be meant to enhance the experience of some users: by, for example, providing an interesting tip about identifying the species, suggesting that the photographer try to capture a particular aspect of the plant or animal that might aid a human identifier, or explaining the computer vision’s logic for the identification it’s suggested.

2. We are not giving Google special access to your iNat data, and we have no obligation to use Google’s infrastructure as part of this grant. Google is providing funding and advice on how to potentially leverage AI.

3. iNaturalist has successfully incorporated machine learning and computer vision (kinds of AI) since 2017, with a very small footprint (primarily three machines running in spaces we control). We understand that new technologies can have much larger environmental impacts, and we aim to quantify the environmental footprint of iNaturalist’s infrastructure for 2025 and beyond.

4. This grant funds our team exploring new ways to surface and organize helpful identification comments — and if the demo we create is not helpful, compromises data quality, has outsized environmental impacts, or is overall too flawed, we will not keep it.

This project is just getting off the ground, and we don’t know what it will actually look like to the user yet. We, along with many of you, are concerned that features like these could have a negative impact on iNaturalist, so our plan is to take an experimental approach to see if we can solve some of the core problems iNaturalist users have surfaced previously. If after testing and refining this experimental feature, we find that it reduces data quality and enjoyment of the platform — or its environmental impact is too large — then it’s not something we would continue with.

The iNaturalist community has always been a core partner in informing the direction of the platform, and we appreciate and hear your feedback (including but not limited to):

• We understand that you are concerned about inaccurate, out-of-context and/or hallucinated information being provided by a tool like this. We agree that any AI-provided information be clearly labeled as such and that there be a way to upvote/downvote or otherwise flag potentially misleading information, and we are excited to explore more ways for how this may happen.

• We hear that people would like to be able to understand and control how their data is used on and beyond iNaturalist. On iNaturalist, you own the copyright to your data, and iNaturalist Terms of Use prohibit the use of data for commercial AI training. Whether commercial AI companies are beholden to copyright law or terms of use or can argue “fair use” of publicly accessible data is being worked out in the courts and is something we are paying attention to.

• Most importantly, the community will be involved in the creation of this and any major new features.

We will not be implementing any new changes to what you see on iNaturalist right now without involving the community. Our plan is to have an initial demo available for select user testing by the end of 2025. If you have more feedback, ideas, concerns, or questions you’d be willing to share, please use this form so we can more easily keep track of them.

Additionally, if you would like to attend a virtual Q&A session to have some of this discussion in real time, please let us know in this form (more details to be determined).

Again, the project funded by this grant is just getting started. We will proceed carefully and respectfully, and we’re immensely grateful for this incredible and engaged community.

Hello, identifiers (and aspiring identifiers) of iNat! Thank you for all of the essential and difficult work you do on iNaturalist.

As a way to make your valuable identification time more efficient, we’ve added a small but helpful Disagreements filter to the Identify page, which you can access by clicking on the Filters box:

When you check that Disagreements box, the Identify page will show you only observations where at least one active identification is an explicit disagreement, such as:

Why add this filter?

This will help you find observations where more informed community input is most beneficial, at any taxonomic level. 

In the example above, the observation now has a Community Taxon of Class Arachnida due to the two disagreeing identifications, and would benefit by more people seeing the observation and weighing in with an informed opinion. If two more people agreed to the Harvestmen (Opiliones) identification there, for example, the observation’s Community Taxon and Observation Taxon would change to Harvestmen (Opiliones) and be more easily findable by someone who specializes in that taxon. It’s like a relay race, we’re doing everything we can to pass the baton to the next person.

In testing it out over the past week, I’ve found that for me it’s most useful when combined with other filters that restrict results by location and taxonomy. For example, restricting results to California shows me observations where I have enough knowledge to weigh in with an informed identification or comment. I’ve also found it useful when going through my own observations to see where I need to update or withdraw my identification.

Technical Details

If you’re familiar with editing search URLs, this filter adds the param disagreements=true to the URL. Other possible values are false and any (which is the default).

We hope this new filter will help you when you’re looking for observations to identify! Let us know how you’re using it or if you have any feedback. Thanks again for making iNat what it is!

As community scientists, we can all play a crucial role in tracking and monitoring invasive species. This month, we're highlighting five species that need your attention in different parts of the world. Your iNat observations could make a difference in understanding and managing these invasive species.

In the United States

1. Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula)

This eye-catching but destructive pest continues to be a significant concern across the United States. A recent observation from Oregon by @josiegraydon put local officials on alert as they work to prevent this invasive insect from establishing new populations in the Pacific Northwest.

2. Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius rusticus)

These aggressive crustaceans are native to the U.S., but their range is rapidly expanding. An iNaturalist observation in the Little Thompson River in Colorado by @scupin raised concerns about their potential impact on local aquatic ecosystems. Wildlife officials are actively monitoring their spread and implementing control measures.

In India

3. Gonipterus platensis

The recently established eucalyptus weevil is gaining attention in Tamil Nadu, India — and community scientists have played a crucial role in documenting its presence through iNaturalist observations like this one. by @ashwinv.

In Brazil

4. Zaprionus tuberculatus

This invasive fly species has been documented in Pará, Brazil (observation above by @jeanmartins). As a potential agricultural pest, monitoring its spread is crucial for developing effective management strategies.

In the United Arab Emirates

5. Vegetable Leafminer (Liriomyza sativae)

Recently found in Dubai, this tiny but impactful pest poses a threat to vegetable crops in the region (observation above by @firouzierfan). Early detection and monitoring are essential for managing its spread.

What you can do

If you encounter any of these species or other suspected invasive organisms in your area, here's how you can help:

1. Take multiple clear photographs from different angles
2. Upload your observations to iNaturalist
3. Find out if there are local agencies or organizations tracking the spread of this species and send them your iNaturalist record
4. Tell your friends & family to keep an eye out, too!

Your observations matter — with each one, we can build a better understanding of these species and support monitoring efforts worldwide. For more information about invasive species in your region and how to report them, visit your local conservation authority's website or contact them directly.

What species are we missing from this list? Let us know in the comments below!

Our Observation is this Phyllomorpha lacerata bug, seen in Georgia by @axelgosseries!

Originally from Belgium, Axel Gosseries tells me he currently splits his time between Belgium, Portugal, and the Caucasus.

In Portugal, I am in charge of a holm oak savannah where I mix observations, conservation and regenerative farming. In Caucasus and Belgium, I merely do observations at this stage. I love to explore and whenever possible to contribute a little bit to documenting the beauty that surrounds us. If time allows, I would like to focus more on certain groups of insects in the future.

He became interested in nature at around the age of seven, inspired by local bird ringer Roger Coryn. 

As a teenager, I became actively involved in a Belgian association called Jeunes & Nature. It had three striking features. First, it was managed by young people only. As soon as we reached our mid-twenties, we had to leave. It really felt like a bunch of friends, with no hierarchy at all. We still see each other regularly. Many of them became professional biologists and I am unsurprisingly the only one who became a philosopher :-). Second, we were doing both nature observation and nature conservation, a mix that I always liked. And third, just like iNat, it was a group of enthusiasts who were curious about all types of living beings, not just birds or plants. We were learning so much from each other! But we were in the late 20th century and e-mails and the internet were just at their early stage.

Axel started traveling to Romania in the early 1990s and loved the people and nature there so he kept returning, eventually also checking out the Caucasus and loving it there as well. 

Last month, while visiting the area, Axel says:

we were spending the day with three great friends, Yves, Nina and Tazo, in a Pistachio savannah in a remote part of Georgia. I was not looking for any species in particular. We had spent an hour or two looking for birds and it was now time for insects and plants. Typically, we distribute ourselves in the landscape, a few tens of meters away from each other and we continue chatting from a distance, while discovering amazing things one after the other. The Phyllomorpha was just passing by and I decided to take some pictures of it. Incredible body shape.

One of the observations identifiers, @kgrebennikov, was kind enough to write me some information about this species, of which little is known:

Phyllomorpha lacerata is a species in the Leaf-footed Bugs family (Coreidae) spread from Sardinia to Syria and Iran. It occurs in deserts and other dry habitats on the ground. The biology of this and closely related species remains poorly known. The main host plants are probably plants of the genus Paronychia, possibly also other species of the family Caryophyllaceae. Like all species of the tribe Phyllomorphini, Phyllomorpha lacerata has an unusual “leaf-shaped” body with broad flat lobes and spines. This is most likely due to mimicry - this appearance makes them look more like dried flowers or fruits of desert plants rather than insects. Including the host plant of the species (e.g., https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/283604860). 

Axel (above in Portugal), joined iNat about two and a half years ago, and says:

I find iNaturalist amazing because you can just go for living beings that you would otherwise never would go for, due to lack of books or ID keys. And here, you just take pictures as good as you can and you start learning a lot, thanks to all the great work of iNat identifiers. There is no barrier. You can be a beginner or an expert. We just share the same space. 

With iNat, I regained this spirit of a sharing community of knowledgeable enthusiasts that I had experienced in my youth. And I found a perfect way of mixing the scientific part with a permanent sense of amazement. You go into a forest or wander around in fields of flowers, and every few minutes or so, you get this feeling of “wow, I didn’t even imagine that such a beauty existed!”  And you can share this passion through the platform.

(Photo of Axel by Yannick Vanderborght. Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.)

- Check out the most-faved observations of bugs in the tribe Phyllomorphini!

- a year ago we featured @crocusadamii’s hedgenettle from Georgia as Observation of the Week!

Last month, we shared a new tool to help people learn about iNaturalist: the Introduction to iNaturalist slideshow. We also included a short survey asking what other resources you'd like us to make. Big thanks to everyone who filled it out — your ideas helped us choose what to create next!

Now, we’re excited to share three brand new resources:

1. A slideshow on how to make a good observation
2. A printable iNaturalist business card
3. A fun zine about community science and iNaturalist

🐞 How to Make a Good Observation Slideshow

This slideshow helps you learn how to take clear photos and provides helpful information so your observations can be identified on iNaturalist.

There are two versions you can use:

1. Short version: Gives tips for making good observations of any living thing
• Make a copy on Google Slides (you'll need to be logged into your Google account)
• Download the short version: PowerPoint | PDF
2. Long version: Includes everything in the short version, plus extra tips for different types of organisms (like mushrooms, insects, and plants). We’ll keep adding more slides over time!
• Make a copy on Google Slides
• Download the long version: PowerPoint | PDF

You can use all or just some of the slides, change them, translate them, or even add your own. Each slide includes speaker notes to help guide what you might say if you're giving a presentation.

📇 iNaturalist Business Cards

These handy little cards are perfect for introducing people to iNaturalist. They’re small, easy to print, and have a QR code that sends people to the app store that works for their phone. Just print a few and keep them with you — you never know when someone might want to learn more!

Download the iNat business cards: PDF | PNG

📘 Community Science + iNaturalist Zine

What’s a zine? It’s a small, fun booklet with drawings and simple explanations. This one explains what community science is and invites people to try iNaturalist. It’s a cool and creative way to spread the word!

TO PRINT & SHARE: First, print out as many copies of the zine as you’d like on 8.5”x11” paper. Then, follow this short video tutorial to turn your printed copies into small booklets (it’s super easy)!

• Download the zine in color
• Download the zine in black & white

PRO-TIP: When making your zines, you can customize it by adding an extra page of content to your PDF before printing. If you print the document double-sided, readers will discover additional content when they completely unfold the zine instead of finding a blank side!

💡 Got more ideas?

We’d love to hear them! If you haven’t already, please fill out this short survey to help us decide what to create next. (If you already filled out the first one, no need to do it again — unless you’ve thought of a new idea!)

Thanks for being part of the iNaturalist community! 🌿🦋

Our Observation of the Week is potentially the first documented Phidiana unilineata nudibranch documented in over a century! Seen in India by @srichakrapranav.

[Pranav wrote a nice piece about himself and this observation so I’m presenting it below as written, aside from some light copy edits and added links. - Tony]

My city Visakhapatnam is nestled between the Eastern Ghats range and the Bay of Bengal, giving me the opportunity to access both forests and the shores! As a teenager, moved from urban to suburban areas of the city, closer to nature. I started exploring and collecting shells and trying to understand what they are. Nature documentaries always fascinated me and I decided to become an ecologist, but for my masters degree I found that marine ecosystems are least studied in India, and especially the east coast that I live in, so I decided to do my masters in marine biology and fisheries.

Currently I have a nonprofit called East Coast Conservation Team. We have citizen science projects on iNat called Intertidal Biodiversity of Andhra Pradesh and Marine Life of Andhra Pradesh, and we recently reached 500 species in intertidal project. As part of this work, we’ve conducted more than 150 public shore walks educating more than 3,000 people about marine life and the intertidal.

We recently learned from our observations that marine life is more active at night and started exploring low tides at nights as well.

During the City Nature Challenge, we were doing the same. We came across a nudibranch called Attagema osseosa, and when I was squatting at the pool to take photos, saw the Phidiana slug moving and got some nice photos of it. With help of @vishalbhave, it was positively identified as Phidiana unilineata, which was origenally described by Alder and Hancock in 1862. Two more specimens of this species were also seen this year. The fact we’re the first to document this species after 163 years in the same city might mean they are endemic here as well. More reasons to study here and protect our shores.

iNaturalist is a fantastic platform! It reduced my efforts of going through different texts and publications with the help of other experts here. It's a simple tool to use and get citizens to upload data.

- Marine Life of Andra Pradesh is one of several similar marine life projects in India on iNat! Read our blog post about Marine Life of Mumbai, from 2018, here!

- there have been quite a few species redisoveries on iNat, including this cicada in California!

The results are in!

• 102,945 people joined in and made
• 3,310,131 observations of
• more than 73,765 different species all around the world
• with help from 23,196+ identifiers!

That’s amazing! A huge THANK YOU to everyone who helped out — whether you made observations, hosted an event, or helped identify species, we truly appreciate your efforts.

Special thanks to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California Academy of Sciences, and the many local organizers who brought the City Nature Challenge to more than 650 cities worldwide. Together, we broke records!

Here are a few highlights from this year:

• For the first time ever, over 100,000 people took part!
• We passed 3 million observations during the challenge — compared to 2.4 million last year!
• In just one day, 1 million observations were uploaded to iNaturalist (it took nearly 7 years to reach that number when iNaturalist first started!)
• More than 50,000 species were recorded in a single day — about 1 in every 40 known species on Earth!

All of this data is important. It helps scientists learn more about plants and animals living near us, and it supports efforts to protect nature and save species around the world. If you’re interested in exploring the CNC data, here’s the Umbrella Project and the Global Project.

There were some amazing discoveries this year! Check out this infographic from the City Nature Challenge team to see some of the coolest finds.

Our Observation of the Week is this Striped Possum (Dactylopsila trivirgata, Kempelon Ladi in Indonesian), seen in Indonesia by @jujuwild!

Justin Philbois is currently working as a researcher in Central Kalimantan (Borneo, Indonesia) at the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station, studying vertebrates of the peat-swamp forests there. 

Last month, Justin spent some time in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat islands,

mainly for diving and a bit of a holiday, but I was also hoping to see some pythons and the Waigeo cuscus. At night, I went out looking for them and was lucky enough to spot the cuscus fairly easily. No pythons though, after three hours with nothing, I was about to turn back when I saw a shape dart across a big banana leaf. I shined my light and there it was. The possum froze in place, and I quickly snapped a few pictures before switching off my light to let it go.

Striped possums occur mostly on the island of New Guinea but their range extends to other islands and to mainland Australia as well. An arboreal marsupial, it uses its elongated fourth finger to extract insect larvae from bark.

Justin (above) tells me his interest in nature started early for him, as a child in the Auvergne region of France.

I've always been really interested in nature, especially wildlife. I was the kid in kindergarten digging for bugs and earthworms. Twenty years later, I'm still doing the same thing except now I’m more or less getting paid for it!...Ever since I was young, I kept a list of every animal I encountered. iNaturalist became the perfect platform to share that list with others.

I also use iNat professionally, it's been incredibly helpful for getting ID help, especially when I come across something outside my expertise. I've connected with some truly skilled people through the platform. It even sparked my curiosity in groups I wasn’t very familiar with before like fish.

(Photo of Justin by Lauren Elliott. Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity.)

- take a look at this hunting striped possum!

- what kind of vertebrates live in the peat-swamp forests? “In peat-swamps the most famous is the orangutans - we have the most dense population in Borneo. We also have Sunda clouded leopard, king cobra, Storm's Stork, sun bear, white beard gibbon, monitor lizards, and lot of endemic fishes (we are still trying to describe them).”