Abstract
Acoustic signals are widely used by both terrestrial and aquatic animals to communicate, and bioacoustics is increasingly used to survey natural, acoustically active communities. More and more acoustic data are made available and await being used in public sound libraries; these data have proved a valuable tool in various fields ranging from ecology to integrative taxonomy. The temptation may exist to use acoustic data to formally describe new taxa by the sole acoustic productions of unseen specimens, forcing a ‘sound-based taxonomy’ on traditional taxonomy. We review the limitations of this practice.
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