Early taxonomists had only crude maps to plot the locations of their specimens; in this case the French Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Moorea (top, from Prévost D’Exiles 1746–1789). Today, highly accurate maps and satellite imagery can pinpoint particular locations within a few meters (bottom, Landsat).

 
 
  Part of: Pyle RL (2016) Towards a Global Names Architecture: The future of indexing scientific names. In: Michel E (Ed.) Anchoring Biodiversity Information: From Sherborn to the 21st century and beyond. ZooKeys 550: 261–281. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.550.10009