The future of zoological taxonomy is integrative, not minimalist

Alireza Zamani1ORCID icon;Davide Dal Pos2ORCID icon;Zdenek Faltýnek Fric3ORCID icon;Alexander B. Orfinger4ORCID icon;Mark D. Scherz5ORCID icon;Alena Sucháčková Bartoňová3ORCID icon;Hugo F. Gante6ORCID icon

  1. Zoological Museum, Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland
  2. Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, 4110 Libra dr. Rm 442, Orlando, FL32816, USA
  3. Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, Ceske Budejovice, CZ-37005, Czech Republic
  4. Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA;5 Center for Water Resources, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA
  5. Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 1350, Denmark
  6. cE3c—Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal;8 Department of Biology, KU Leuven, Section Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation, Charles Deberiotstraat 32 box 2439, Leuven, B-3000, Belgium;9 Royal Museum for Central Africa, Leuvensesteenweg 17, Tervuren, 3080, Belgium

Abstract

Roughly 18,000 species are described annually as new to science, while estimated extinction rates are comparable to or even exceeding these new discoveries. Considering the estimates of up to 15 million extant eukaryotic species on Earth, of which only about 2 million have been described so far, there has been a recent boom of new potential approaches to more quickly discover and describe the millions of unknown species. This deficit is particularly noted in hyperdiverse taxa, as the current rate of species discovery is considered too slow. Recently, a minimalist alpha taxonomic approach was proposed, relying solely on DNA barcoding and a habitus photograph, in a claimed effort to expedite the naming of new species to combat the so-called taxonomic impediment. In this paper, we point to limitations of minimalist taxonomy, present arguments in favour of the integrative approach, and finally explore a number of potential solutions to combat the taxonomic impediment in hyperdiverse taxa without sacrificing utility and quality for apparent speed and quantity.

DOI: 10.1080/14772000.2022.2063964

Journal: Systematics and Biodiversity

Volume: 20

Issue: 1

Pages: 1-14