it looks like this has been implemented: https://github.com/inaturalist/iNaturalistAPI/commit/5266ea8f6aa1911da982342eb2187ad3ee5fc6a3.
this resolves the problem for the thing i was trying to build over here: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/1-000-000th-taxa-record-added-to-inat-database/9308/6
(if moderator sees this, this can be closed now.)