The first phenetic analysis of species limits inBertya(Euphorbiaceae)

M. Fatemi; C. L. Gross; J. J. Bruhl

doi:10.1071/sb06019

Joseph Sidebotham: vicissitudes of a Victorian collector

Archives of Natural History ◽

10.3366/anh.2015.0305 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 197-210 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Laurence M. Cook

Keyword(s):

Natural History ◽

Species Limits ◽

Clear Cut ◽

Natural History Collections ◽

As Species ◽

Scientific World

Joseph Sidebotham (1824–1885) was a Manchester cotton baron whose natural history collections are now in the Manchester Museum. In addition to collecting he suggested a method for identifying and classifying Lepidoptera and investigated variation within species as well as species limits. With three close collaborators, he is credited with discovering many species new to Britain in both Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. A suspicion of fraud attaches to these claims. The evidence is not clear-cut in the Lepidoptera, but a possible reason is suggested why Sidebotham, as an amateur in the increasingly professional scientific world, might have engaged in deceit.

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Differences between recent and historical records of upper species limits in the northern European Alps

Erdkunde ◽

10.3112/erdkunde.2013.04.04 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 67 (4) ◽

pp. 345-354

Author(s):

Sebastian Schmidtlein ◽

Ulrike Faude ◽

Ole Rössler ◽

Hannes Feilhauer ◽

Jörg Ewald ◽

...

Keyword(s):

European Alps ◽

Historical Records ◽

Species Limits ◽

Northern European

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Anthropologic Relationships among Prehistoric Northeastern Amerindians

North American Archaeologist ◽

10.2190/6g0g-8pd9-52t7-p0gq ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 145-159

Author(s):

Edward F. Harris ◽

Nicholas F. Bellantoni

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Gene Flow ◽

Material Culture ◽

New England ◽

Cultural Barriers ◽

Group Differences ◽

Phenetic Analysis ◽

Trade Relationships ◽

Good Agreement

Archaeologically defined inter-group differences in the Northeast subarea ate assessed with a phenetic analysis of published craniometric information. Spatial distinctions in the material culture are in good agreement with those defined by the cranial metrics. The fundamental dichotomy, between the Ontario Iroquois and the eastern grouping of New York and New England, suggests a long-term dissociation between these two groups relative to their ecologic adaptations, trade relationships, trait-list associations, and natural and cultural barriers to gene flow.

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Morphology, vocalizations, and mitochondrial DNA suggest that the Graceful Prinia is two species

The Auk ◽

10.1093/ornithology/ukab014 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Per Alström ◽

Pamela C Rasmussen ◽

Canwei Xia ◽

Lijun Zhang ◽

Chengyi Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Arabian Peninsula ◽

Morphological Characters ◽

Sensu Stricto ◽

Species Limits ◽

Mosaic Pattern ◽

Coalescence Time ◽

New Subspecies ◽

Taxonomic Analysis ◽

Potential Contact

Abstract Prinias (Cisticolidae: Prinia) are resident warblers of open areas across Africa and Asia and include many polytypic species whose species limits have not been seriously reevaluated recently. Based on an integrative taxonomic analysis of morphology, song, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), we suggest that 2 species should be recognized in the Graceful Prinia (Prinia gracilis) complex. In addition, our morphological analyses show the existence of a well-marked undescribed form in southeastern Somalia, which we name herein as a new subspecies. Prinia gracilis is a small, drab, long-tailed species with streaking above and plain pale underparts that has been suggested to fall into 2 groups: the southwestern nominate group (from Egypt to Oman) and the northeastern lepida group (from Turkey through India). However, the characters presented to justify this grouping are variable and show a mosaic pattern, and whether genetic and vocal differences exist is unknown. We found consistent between-group song differences, with the nominate group giving consistently longer inter-phrase intervals, whereas the members of the lepida group sing an essentially continuous reel. An mtDNA tree suggests a deep split between the nominate and lepida groups, with a coalescence time between these clades of ~ 2.2 million years ago. Vocal and mtDNA analyses provided evidence that the northeastern Arabian Peninsula taxon carpenteri belongs to the lepida group. We found that, of all the morphological characters proposed, only proportions and tail barring and spotting relatively consistently distinguish the 2 groups. However, these characters strongly suggest that the eastern Arabian Peninsula is populated by taxa of both the gracilis and lepida groups, in different areas, but we lack genetic and bioacoustic data to corroborate this. Although further study is needed in potential contact zones, we suggest that 2 species should be recognized in the P. gracilis complex, and we propose the retention of the English name Graceful Prinia for P. gracilis sensu stricto, while we suggest that P. lepida be known as Delicate Prinia.

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Performance of a points-based scoring system for assessing species limits in birds

The Auk ◽

10.1093/ornithology/ukab016 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Joseph A Tobias ◽

Paul F Donald ◽

Rob W Martin ◽

Stuart H M Butchart ◽

Nigel J Collar

Keyword(s):

Strong Support ◽

Molecular Data ◽

Sympatric Species ◽

Global Scale ◽

Training Set ◽

Species Limits ◽

Phenotypic Data ◽

Fast Tracking ◽

Extinction Rates ◽

Phenotypic Divergence

AbstractSpecies are fundamental to biology, conservation, and environmental legislation; yet, there is often disagreement on how and where species limits should be drawn. Even sophisticated molecular methods have limitations, particularly in the context of geographically isolated lineages or inadequate sampling of loci. With extinction rates rising, methods are needed to assess species limits rapidly but robustly. Tobias et al. devised a points-based system to compare phenotypic divergence between taxa against the level of divergence in sympatric species, establishing a threshold to guide taxonomic assessments at a global scale. The method has received a mixed reception. To evaluate its performance, we identified 397 novel taxonomic splits from 328 parent taxa made by application of the criteria (in 2014‒2016) and searched for subsequent publications investigating the same taxa with molecular and/or phenotypic data. Only 71 (18%) novel splits from 60 parent taxa have since been investigated by independent studies, suggesting that publication of splits underpinned by the criteria in 2014–2016 accelerated taxonomic decisions by at least 33 years. In the evaluated cases, independent analyses explicitly or implicitly supported species status in 62 (87.3%) of 71 splits, with the level of support increasing to 97.2% when excluding subsequent studies limited only to molecular data, and reaching 100% when the points-based criteria were applied using recommended sample sizes. Despite the fact that the training set used to calibrate the criteria was heavily weighted toward passerines, splits of passerines and non-passerines received equally strong support from independent research. We conclude that the method provides a useful tool for quantifying phenotypic divergence and fast-tracking robust taxonomic decisions at a global scale.

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