500,000 people have now contributed identifications on iNaturalist! When you upload an observation, it's often someone else who tells you what you found. Identifiers make iNaturalist work as both a learning community and a biodiversity data resource.
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Chile's largest land snail (Macrocyclis peruvianus) is the only species in its genus and is found exclusively in Chile and adjacent parts of Argentina ... and that scale card in the photo gives a sense of just how large they can get: shells can reach 60mm across!
Photo description: A large land snail with a dark body and a deep brown spiral-shaped shell rests on a forest floor covered in dried leaves. A scale card for size reference is visible in the lower portion of the frame, and the snail's full body length almost reaches 10 cm (the shell is closer to 6).
To everyone who has ever added an ID to someone else's observation, whether it was your first or your millionth, thank you for volunteering your time, expertise, curiosity, and mentorship!
For a deep-dive into the stats: www.inaturalist.org/blog/131683-...
For most of the year, adult Plains Spadefoots (Spea bombifrons) bury themselves underground ... & then they emerge when warm temperatures & rain finally arrive. This amphibian breeds in temporary pools & races the clock: eggs hatch in 48 hours, & tadpoles metamorphose in two weeks. Spectacular.
