Relegating Species Descriptions to Electronic Supplementary Information Puts Critical Data for Taxonomy at Risk

There is a current trend to relegate the details of molecular and morphometric analyses in species descriptions to electronic Supplementary Information (eSI), where they may be separated and lost. We find that half of the species descriptions in non-specialist journals since 2012 have put important material in eSI. The identity of specimens and measurements that are used in taxonomic descriptions needs to be available in perpetuity. A simple and effective way to avoid relegating species description details to electronic SI in non-specialist journals is to publish these in appendices attached to the main text, rather than in separate digital files.