Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug 31;5027(2):151-159.
doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5027.2.1.

Is it time to describe new species without diagnoses?A comment on Sharkey et al. (2021)

Dirk Ahrens  1 , Shane T Ahyong  2 , Alberto Ballerio  3 , Maxwell V L Barclay  4 , Jonas Eberle  5 , Marianne Espeland  6 , Bernhard A Huber  7 , Ximo Mengual  8 , Thaynara L Pacheco  9 , Ralph S Peters  10 , Bjrn Rulik  11 , Fernando Vaz-DE-Mello  12 , Thomas Wesener  13 , Frank-Thorsten Krell  14
Affiliations

Is it time to describe new species without diagnoses?A comment on Sharkey et al. (2021)

Dirk Ahrens et al. Zootaxa. .

Abstract

New methods in taxonomy and systematics can influence the overall practice of formally naming and describing biodiversity. DNA barcoding has been controversial since its emergence, but now, large scale species descriptions exclusively based on barcodes have created what can be called a 'new quality of performance. Its limitations are discussed from different perspectives: nomenclature, general pragmatism, and problems of DNA-based species delimitation in the light of the central aim of achieving a robust and stable nomenclature of organisms, essential for all applications of biodiversity research. This issue needs to be addressed to prevent restraining the progress of taxonomy and its ability to contribute to modern science.

PubMed Disclaimer