Alpha Taxonomy: Naming and Describing Species

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Alpha TaxonomyNaming and Describing Species

• BIOL 100
• 3 September 2009

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Levels of Taxonomy

• Alpha (?) naming and describing species
• Beta (?) grouping species into higher taxa
  (genera, families, orders, classes, phyla,
  kingdoms, domains)
• Gamma (?) describing intraspecific variation

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Frogs and Toads

• 70 species described per year
• Mostly in the Neotropics

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New Mammal Spp.

• Once thought very near completion
• 1983 to 1993 459 species described, upping
  total 10
• 15 new mammals from Philipines, 1991-1997
• New beaked whale, 1991
• Two new hooved mammals in Vietnam in 1990s
• New Brazilian primates

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HANDOUTLiolaemus Lizards
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New Gastrotrich Species
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Terry Erwin

• Smithsonian entomologist
• Used insecticide fogging to completely sample
  insects of one tropical tree species
• Extrapolated to estimate global arthropod
  diversity of 30 million species

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New Species Descriptions

• 1.8 million described species
• 1990s 13,000 new species descriptions annually
• 3,000 later turn out to be already named
• Hence 10,000 truly new species annually
• 1.5 million valid names
• At this rate 500 years to complete alpha
  taxonomy (based conservatively on 5 million total
  species)

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Early TaxonomyPolynomial Scientific Names

• Genus name specific epithet with multiple
  descriptive terms
• Changed at will by earlier systematists
• Ex Convolvulus folio Altheae Clusius 1576
• Convolvulus argenteus Altheae folio
  Bauhin 1623
• Convolvulus foliis ovatis divisis basi
  truncatus laciniis intermediis duplo
  longioribus Linnaeus 1738
• Convolvulus foliis palmatis cordatis
  sericeis lobis repandis, pedunculis bifloris
  Linnaeus 1753

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Carl von Linne (1707-1778)

• Swede, aka Carolus Linnaeus
• Popularized binomial names
• Developed grouping system still in use today

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Linnaeus Species Plantarum (1753)

• Detailed descriptions accompanied polynomials of
  5900 plant spp.
• Binomial names in margins

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Linnaeus Systema Naturae, 10th ed. (1758)

• Animal and plant taxonomy
• Detailed descriptions
• Binomial names only, beginning with 10th ed.
• 12 eds. total (1735-1768)
• Grouped species into genera, orders, classes, and
  kingdoms in 10th ed.
• Soon added families and phyla KPCOFGS

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Naming and Describing Species

• Published description
• Deposition of one or more specimens in natural
  history museum collections

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Taxonomic Priority

• First name applied to a species is its rightful
  name
• Starting with 1753 (plants) and 1758 (animals)
• Names are not changed if not adequately
  descriptive
• Ex Eastern box turtle
• Terrapene carolina

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Type Specimens

• Holotype single museum specimen bearing name of
  species
• Clarifies validity (often two names given to same
  species)
• Anchor in case of later discovery of cryptic
  species
• i.e., finding that a named species is actually
  two or more separate species

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Genus and species

• Scientific name Genus specific epithet
• Never use specific epithet alone
• UC genus and LC species (even for specific
  epithets based on proper nouns)
• Italicize Genus species
• Never use the with scientific name

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Liolaemus huayra Abdala et al. 2008
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Liolaemus inti Abdala et al. 2008
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Patronyms

• Honor someone other than author of name
• Male honoree -i
• Female honoree -ae

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Graptemys caglei Haynes McKown 1974
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Hyla stingi Kaplan 1994
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Hesperarion mariae Branson 1991
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Menetia koshlandae Greer, 1991Menetia sadlieri
Greer 1991
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Cryptic species

• Examination of specimens of one named species
  reveal it to actually be two or more separate
  species

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HANDOUTLovich and McCoy 1992
Holotype collected in Montgomery, AL and named
in 1893 (U.S. National Museum 8808)
Holotype collected in Leakesville, MS, in
1978 (Carnegie Museum 94979)
Holotype collected in East Brewton, AL, in
1988 (Carnegie Museum 122408)
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HANDOUTConant and Collins 1991