Mammals and meaningful taxonomic units: the debate about species concepts and conservation

Zachos, Frank E.

doi:10.1111/mam.12121

Cited by 51 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…). Among mammals, the diagnostic potential of the Phylogenetic Species Concept has often implied premature splittings, particularly in ungulates (Groves & Grubb , Valdez , Zachos ). This is particularly evident for Eurasian goat‐antelopes (Bovidae: Caprinae: Rupicaprini), i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reclassification of the serows and gorals: the end of a neverending story?

2019

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Taxonomy is partly a subjective matter, but it is instrumental for ecological, behavioural and especially conservation studies. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, goat‐antelopes (Bovidae: Rupicaprini tribe) number 13 species, 62% of which are ‘Threatened’ or ‘Near Threatened’ with extinction. During recent decades, the number of extant species of goat‐antelopes – especially in endemic Asian genera (goral: six species Naemorhedus spp.; serow: seven species Capricornis spp.) – has been inflated. We have revised the taxonomy and phylogeny of the gorals and serows, for the first time using the total mitochondrial genome of all taxa. We confirm the existence of three goral and four serow species. We can find no justification for the existence of Naemorhedus griseus (Chinese goral), Naemorhedus bedfordi (Himalayan goral) and Naemorhedus evansi (Burmese goral), which should be pooled together within Naemorhedus goral (brown goral). Two species of mainland serow are also recognised: Capricornis rubidus (red serow) and Capricornis sumatraensis (Sumatran serow). Capricornis rubidus and Naemorhedus baileyi (red goral) are the forms more closely related to the common Pliocenic, still‐unknown ancestor. Among serows, Capricornis crispus is sister to all remaining species. Capricornis rubidus and Capricornis swinhoei (Formosan serow) are sister species, probably the remnants of an older radiation of mainland serows.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reclassification of the serows and gorals: the end of a neverending story?

2019

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“…Of course, we cannot exclude that taxonomical errors, such as the presence of cryptic species Bickford et al (2007) or inappropriate descriptions of new taxa (Komarek and Beutel 2006; Zachos 2018), could propagate into our conclusions. However, compared to other clades, the mammalian taxonomy is undeniably quite well studied, and, additionally, the families here considered encompass a varied number of documented species (minimum: 7, maximum: 690, mean: 129 spp).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Transposable Elements Activity is Positively Related to Rate of Speciation in Mammals

et al. 2018

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Transposable elements (TEs) play an essential role in shaping eukaryotic genomes and generating variability. Speciation and TE activity bursts could be strongly related in mammals, in which simple gradualistic models of differentiation do not account for the currently observed species variability. In order to test this hypothesis, we designed two parameters: the Density of insertion (DI) and the Relative rate of speciation (RRS). DI is the ratio between the number of TE insertions in a genome and its size, whereas the RRS is a conditional parameter designed to identify potential speciation bursts. Thus, by analyzing TE insertions in mammals, we defined the genomes as “hot” (high DI) and “cold” (low DI). Then, comparing TE activity among 29 taxonomical families of the whole Mammalia class, 16 intra-order pairs of mammalian species, and four superorders of Eutheria, we showed that taxa with high rates of speciation are associated with “hot” genomes, whereas taxa with low ones are associated with “cold” genomes. These results suggest a remarkable correlation between TE activity and speciation, also being consistent with patterns describing variable rates of differentiation and accounting for the different time frames of the speciation bursts.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00239-018-9847-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…This and other publications dealing with the inherent limitations of taxonomy (e.g. Zachos et al 2013, Zachos 2018a) stir reactions that appear to follow a common pattern: an outcry from the taxonomic community who consider that we disparage taxonomy as a science, insist that taxonomy is a hypothesis-driven discipline and claim that our views threaten the freedom of scientific research (see the comments on in the correspondence section of Nature as well as Raposo et al 2017, Thomson et al 2018, Gippoliti 2019. These arguments generally miss the key points in our various publications (Garnett and Christidis 2018a,b).…”

Section: Background Of the Debatementioning

confidence: 87%

“…Indeed, it is a research field in which we are closely involved: Taylor et al (2019) cite the research led by one of us (Christidis et al 2014) as an example of "very high standards of taxonomic description and publication". Nor do our views depend on any particular species concept, although, like Taylor et al (2019), Zachos (2016Zachos ( , 2018a embraced and defended the ontological superiority of the ESC. We therefore ask our critics to look at the first part of the reasoning in our respective publications, i.e.…”

Section: Background Of the Debatementioning

confidence: 98%

Mammalian species and the twofold nature of taxonomy: a comment on Taylor et al. 2019

2019

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In a recently published paper, Taylor and colleagues discussed different approaches and interpretations of mammalian taxonomy and their bearing on more general issues such as conservation and evolutionary biology. We fully endorse the fundamental importance of taxonomy and its being grounded on scientific principles. However, we also deplore a lack of awareness in the literature of the fact that taxonomy is a twofold enterprise that encompasses not only (i) the scientific description and quantitative analysis of biodiversity but also (ii) an executive decision as to how the results of (i) are translated into names. This has serious ramifications for the conservation of our planet's dwindling biodiversity and when taxonomic names are used as raw data for ecological and evolutionary analyses.

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Mammals and meaningful taxonomic units: the debate about species concepts and conservation

Cited by 51 publications

References 30 publications

Reclassification of the serows and gorals: the end of a neverending story?

Reclassification of the serows and gorals: the end of a neverending story?

Transposable Elements Activity is Positively Related to Rate of Speciation in Mammals

Mammalian species and the twofold nature of taxonomy: a comment on Taylor et al. 2019

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