A response to recent proposals for integrative taxonomy

Authors: PADIAL, JOSÉ M.; DE LA RIVA, IGNACIO1

Source: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 101, Number 3, November 2010 , pp. 747-756(10)
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/bij/2010/00000101/00000003/art00019

Abstract:
Several proposals have been launched under the new concept `integrative taxonomy' to frame the future development of species discovery and description. We consider that some of those proposals have failed to be truly integrative, by not acknowledging the limitations of operational definitions of species, by defending some kinds of evidence as universally superior, by considering taxonomy to be irreconcilable with population genetics, or by ignoring that the heterogeneity of evolutionary processes often precludes full character congruence in species. Here we defend a taxonomy where species exist, but not in any particular way everyone might want them to exist; a taxonomy open to data and methods from population biology, phylogeography and phylogenetics, as well as any other discipline providing evidence about the origin and evolution of species. This new taxonomy embraces all the consequences of considering species as lineages of reproductive populations, encouraging the use of as many lines of evidence as possible, but without negating that a single line may also be the only one providing evidence for a particular species. Species cannot only be those reproductive populations showing broad character congruence and/or reproductive isolation, due to the different degrees of character congruence, as well as of reproductive isolation, that result from the heterogeneity of evolutionary processes causing lineage splitting and divergence. Also, any kind of character - and not only those established by tradition or fashion - is potentially relevant as evidence of lineage divergence. To conciliate the authors who only see species supported by broad character congruence as good species hypotheses, we explain how a hypothesis can gain corroboration using single or multiple lines of evidence, even in cases of discordance with other lines of evidence. Finally, we propose guidelines to identify the expected degree of stability (preliminary, unstable, and stable) of species hypotheses. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101, 747-756.

Keywords: corroboration; lineage; species concept

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01528.x

Taxonomía: el valor del toque humano y la cooperación

Compart aquí un par de notas en Nature muy interesantes:

Taxonomy: add a human touch too
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7317/full/467788a.html
Antonio G. Valdecasas & Quentin D. Wheeler
Journal name: Nature Volume: 467 , Page: 788 Date published: (14 October 2010)
DOI: doi:10.1038/467788a

Norman MacLeod and colleagues' call to develop automated species-identification systems is laudable (Nature 467, 154–155; 2010), but let's not forget a core feature of taxonomic work that depends on a scholar's input — the discovery of new characters.

Unexpected evolutionary novelties in morphology and physiology, for example, are what make taxonomic exploration rewarding. Taxonomists set out to discover and track such novelties and their evolutionary history. It is in this sense that taxonomy provides the empirical basis for understanding speciation and phylogeny.

There is a place for automated pattern detection, but it would not work with the 5,000 species of Drosophila, say, which are identified by their many different structures. Taxonomy can independently test and verify identifications without relying on patterns of single characters, as the long list of synonymies in any biological group testifies. The practice of taxonomic revision and publishing detailed monographs ensures that character distributions, species status and phylogenetic relationships are subject to repeated and critical testing.

We should beware the trend to confuse automatic identification tools with those that are useful for discovering new species. The emerging field of cybertaxonomy is an advance only if it is understood as enhancing and enabling theory-rich descriptive taxonomy, not replacing it.

As in many other modern scientific fields, including diagnostic medicine and molecular genetics, a final step involving a human expert is essential.

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Taxonomy: include social networking
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v467/n7317/full/467788b.html
Jonathan Silvertown
Journal name: Nature Volume: 467 , Page: 788 Date published: (14 October 2010)
DOI: doi:10.1038/467788b

Help with the shortage of professional taxonomists needed to identify organisms (Nature 467, 154–155; 2010) may also come from an unexpected source — social networking on the Internet.

Through social networking, the identification process can be made more efficient while simultaneously spreading real taxonomic knowledge. The facility is available to anyone, unlike other technologies that require specialized equipment.

In its first year of operation, the website iSpot (http://ispot.org.uk) has helped 6,000 users to identify 25,000 sightings of some 2,500 species, from lichens to birds. The website works by linking experts (including amateur experts) with beginners through a sophisticated reputation system that encourages users to help and learn from each other.

Eventually, DNA bar-code matching and image recognition might be added to the tools available. But these will be aids, not replacements, for people learning how to identify species.

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Un monumento a la filogenetica. Cuernavaca, Mexico

Rescaté del "baúl" esta foto tomada en los años 90´s en Cuernavaca, México.
Asistía a un Congreso en la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos.
La imagen digital la recuperé de una fotografía impresa muy pequeña, la cual tome durante el XIII Congreso Mexicano de Botánica, Cuernavaca, Morelos. Noviembre 5 -11, 1995.
No requiere mucha imaginación ver que es un cladograma, pero en ese entonces nadie sabia realmente en honor a que era esta escultura.
Los colegas de la UAEM o alguien saben la historia?