Taxonomy Takes Time: Shortcuts to Synonymy

Taxonomy is the foundation of biology, providing the currency (species) for biological studies and the handle (epithet) to refer to them. The task at hand is urgent: a race against extinction as most species remain undescribed and expertise declines. In response, various ‘rapid taxonomy’ approaches aim to hasten descriptions. Good examples exist that genuinely accelerate the growth of taxonomic knowledge, but shortcuts risk errors that may take more time to resolve than the original work took to produce. Authors must consider (1) the total time budget, including subsequent revisions necessitated by inadequate taxonomy; (2) the taxonomic literature on regional and widespread taxa; and (3) illustration quality as a critical and enduring component of species description. Reviewers and editors must also ensure minimum standards. I discuss a recent example where shortcuts, instead of accelerating taxonomy, merely borrowed time. Anelosimus blackgardens, Anelosimus covepond, Coleosoma roadsalt—all Sherwood, Mukhida & Connor, 2026—lacked sufficient reference to genus-level revisions and established genus-level synapomorphies and are proposed here as junior synonyms of widespread theridiids: T. dilucidum Simon, 1898 syn. nov., T. melanostictum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876 syn. nov., and C. blandum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1882 syn. nov., respectively. The urgent task of documenting biodiversity can be sped up through effective allocation of effort, but not without due consideration of the taxonomic literature.