Need morphology always be required for new species descriptions?
L. G. Cook A D , R. D. Edwards A , M. D. Crisp B and N. B. Hardy CA The University of Queensland, School of Biological Sciences, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.
B The Australian National University, Research School of Biology, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
C Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries, Entomology, Brisbane, Qld 4068, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: l.cook@uq.edu.au
Invertebrate Systematics 24(3) 322-326 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS10011
Submitted: 3 May 2010 Accepted: 30 July 2010 Published: 30 August 2010
Abstract
Despite the widespread and common use of DNA-sequence data to estimate phylogenies, support or contest classifications, and identify species using barcodes, they are not commonly used as the primary or sole source of data for describing species. This is possibly due to actual or perceived pressure from peers to include morphology as the primary source of data for species descriptions. We find no compelling evidence to exclude DNA-only descriptions, or to insist that morphology always be included in a species description. It is not the data type per se that is important, but the science behind the taxonomic conclusions. Using alternative kinds of data for descriptions should not cause problems for taxonomy if links are kept with type specimens.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank three anonymous reviewers, Andy Austin and the ‘papers-in-the-pub’ systematics discussion group at UQ for their input that helped improve the manuscript. We would also like to acknowledge funding support from the Australian Biological Resources Study and the Australian Research Council.
Andriaholinirina N.,
Fausser J. L.,
Roos C.,
Zinner D.,
Thalmann U.,
Rabarivola C.,
Ravoarimanana I.,
Ganzhorn J. U.,
Meier B.,
Hilgartner R.,
Walter L.,
Zaramody A.,
Langer C.,
Hahn T.,
Zimmermann E.,
Radespiel U.,
Craul M.,
Tomiuk J.,
Tattersall I., Rumpler Y.
(2006) Molecular phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the sportive lemurs (Lepilemur, Primates). BMC Evolutionary Biology 6, 17.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Bickford D.,
Lohman D. J.,
Sodhi N. S.,
Ng P. K. L.,
Meier R.,
Winker K.,
Ingram K. K., Das I.
(2007) Cryptic species as a window on diversity and conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 22, 148–155.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Blanquer A., Uriz M. J.
(2008) ‘A posteriori’ searching for phenotypic characters to describe new cryptic species of sponges revealed by molecular markers (Dictyonellidae: Scopalina). Invertebrate Systematics 22, 489–502.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brooker M. I. H., Hopper S. D.
(1991) A taxonomic revision of Eucalyptus wandoo, E. redunca, and allied species (Eucalyptus series Levispermae Maiden – Myrtaceae) in Western Australia. Nuytsia 7, 1–189.
Cameron S.,
Rubinoff D., Will K.
(2006) Who will actually use DNA barcoding and what will it cost? Systematic Biology 55, 844–847.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Cavalieri V.,
Mazzeo G.,
Garzia G. T.,
Buonocore E., Russo A.
(2008) Identification of Planococcus ficus and Planococcus citri (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) by PCR-RFLP of COI gene. Zootaxa 1816, 65–68.
Cook L. G.
(2003)
Apiomorpha gullanae sp. n., an unusual new species of gall-inducing scale insect (Hemiptera: Eriococcidae). Australian Journal of Entomology 42, 327–333.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
de Bivort B. L., Giribet G.
(2004) A new genus of cyphophthalmid from the Iberian Peninsula with a phylogenetic analysis of the Sironidae (Arachnida: Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi) and a SEM database of external morphology. Invertebrate Systematics 18, 7–52.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
De Queiroz K.
(2007) Species concepts and species delimitation. Systematic Biology 56, 879–886.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Dunn C. P.
(2003) Keeping taxonomy based in morphology. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 18, 270–271.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Edwards S., Bensch S.
(2009) Looking forwards or looking backwards in avian phylogeography? A comment on Zink and Barrowclough 2008. Molecular Ecology 18, 2930–2933.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Edwards R.,
Carraher C.,
Poulton J.,
Sandanayaka M.,
Todd J. H.,
Dobson S.,
Mauchline N.,
Hill G.,
McKenna C., Newcomb R. D.
(2008) DNA diagnostics of three armored scale species on kiwifruit in New Zealand. Journal of Economic Entomology 101, 1944–1949.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Gullan P. J.,
Downie D. A., Steffan S. A.
(2003) A new pest species of the mealybug genus Ferrisia Fullaway (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) from the United States. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 96, 723–737.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Halt M. N.,
Kupriyanova E. K.,
Cooper S. J. B., Rouse G. W.
(2009) Naming species with no morphological indicators: species status of Galeolaria caespitosa (Annelida: Serpulidae) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences and morphology. Invertebrate Systematics 23, 205–222.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Harvey M. S.,
Austin A. D., Adams M.
(2007) The systematics and biology of the spider genus Nephila (Araneae: Nephilidae) in the Australasian region. Invertebrate Systematics 21, 407–451.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hebert P. D. N.,
Cywinska A.,
Ball S. L., DeWaard J. R.
(2003) Biological identifications through DNA barcodes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences 270, 313–321.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hey J.
(2001) The mind of the species problem. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 16, 326–329.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Koh L. P.,
Dunn R. R.,
Sodhi N. S.,
Colwell R. K.,
Proctor H. C., Smith V. S.
(2004) Species coextinctions and the biodiversity crisis. Science 305, 1632–1634.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Kuusela J.,
Zietara M. S., Lumme J.
(2008) Description of three new European cryptic species of Gyrodactylus Nordmann, 1832 supported by nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenetic characterization. Acta Parasitologica 53, 120–126.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leonard J. A.,
Rohland N.,
Glaberman S.,
Fleischer R. C.,
Caccone A., Hofreiter M.
(2005) A rapid loss of stripes: the evolutionary history of the extinct quagga. Biology Letters 1, 291–295.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Lipscomb D.,
Platnick N., Wheeler Q.
(2003) The intellectual content of taxonomy: a comment on DNA taxonomy. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 18, 65–66.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mayr E.
(1996) What is a species, and what is not? Philosophy of Science 63, 262–277.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mladineo I., Bocina I.
(2006)
Ceratomyxa thunni sp. n. (Myxozoa: Ceratomyxidae) in Atlantic northern bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) caught in the Adriatic Sea, Island of Jabuka. Zootaxa 1224, 59–68.
Monaghan M. T.,
Balke M.,
Gregory T. R., Vogler A. P.
(2005) DNA-based species delineation in tropical beetles using mitochondrial and nuclear markers. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 360, 1925–1933.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Moritz C., Cicero C.
(2004) DNA barcoding: promise and pitfalls. PLoS Biology 2, e354.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
O’Rourke J. L.,
Solnick J. V.,
Neilan B. A.,
Seidel K.,
Hayter R.,
Hansen L. M., Lee A.
(2004) Description of ‘Candidatus Helicobacter heilmannii’ based on DNA sequence analysis of 16S rRNA and urease genes. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 54, 2203–2211.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Omland K. E.,
Baker J. M., Peters J. L.
(2006) Genetic signatures of intermediate divergence: population history of Old and New World Holarctic ravens (Corvus corax). Molecular Ecology 15, 795–808.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Perkins S. L., Austin C. C.
(2009) Four new species of Plasmodium from New Guinea lizards: integrating morphology and molecules. The Journal of Parasitology 95, 424–433.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Pfenninger M., Schwenk K.
(2007) Cryptic animal species are homogeneously distributed among taxa and biogeographical regions. BMC Evolutionary Biology 7, 121.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Pons J.,
Barraclough T. G.,
Gomez-Zurita J.,
Cardoso A.,
Duran D. P.,
Hazell S.,
Kamoun S.,
Sumlin W. D., Vogler A. P.
(2006) Sequence-based species delimitation for the DNA taxonomy of undescribed insects. Systematic Biology 55, 595–609.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Reynolds D. R., Taylor J. W.
(1991) DNA Specimens and The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Taxon 40, 311–315.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Roca A. L.,
Georgiadis N.,
Pecon-Slattery J., O’Brien S. J.
(2001) Genetic evidence for two species of elephant in Africa. Science 293, 1473–1477.
| Crossref |
PubMed |
Rubinoff D.,
Cameron S., Will K.
(2006) A genomic perspective on the shortcomings of mitochondrial DNA for “barcoding” identification. The Journal of Heredity 97, 581–594.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed |
Tautz D.,
Arctander P.,
Minelli A.,
Thomas R. H., Vogler A. P.
(2003) A plea for DNA taxonomy. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 18, 70–74.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Trontelj P., Fiser C.
(2009) Cryptic species diversity should not be trivialised. Systematics and Biodiversity 7, 1–3.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Vogler A. P., Monaghan M. T.
(2007) Recent advances in DNA taxonomy. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 45, 1–10.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
