Parataxonomy is the use of less qualified assistance to, or replacement of, taxonomists in the practice and science of classification. Parataxonomy may be used to improve taxonomic efficiency by enabling more expert taxonomists to restrict their activity to the tasks that require their specialist knowledge and skills, typically by undertaking basic sorting of collected specimens. The term is attributed to Daniel Janzen who used it to describe the role of assistants working in INBio in Costa Rica.