The European common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) is a widely distributed species across Europe and Asia exhibiting two reproductive modes (oviparity/viviparity), six major lineages and several sublineages. It has been used to tackle a large variety of research questions, nevertheless, few nuclear DNA sequence markers have been developed for this species. Here we developed 79 new nuclear DNA sequence markers using a clonation protocol. These markers were amplified in several oviparous and viviparous specimens including samples of all extant clades, to test the amplification success and their diversity. 49.4% of the markers were polymorphic and of those, 51.3% amplified in all and 94.9% amplified in 5-7 of the extant Z. vivipara clades. These new markers will be very useful for the study of the population structure, population dynamics, and micro/macro evolution of Z. vivipara. Cross-species amplification in four lizard species (Psammodromus edwardsianus, Podarcis muralis, Lacerta bilineata, and Takydromus sexlineatus) was positive in several of the markers, and six makers amplified in all five species. The large genetic distance between P. edwardsianus and Z. vivipara further suggests that these markers may as well be employed in many other species.
Concepts in science have an important role: They delimit and specify objects, activities, processes, and abstract entities. When terms are diffuse, mean different things to different persons, and lead more to qualifications than demarcation, they cease to be concepts and may become labels, which are informal alternative designations. There are many labels in science and they have become abundant in taxonomy: α-taxonomy, integrative-taxonomy, iterative-taxonomy, etc., are only a few examples. α-taxonomy is a negative label that obtained popularity at the same time the term α-diversity became popular in ecology. The label α-taxonomy conveys a negative meaning to taxonomy because the nature of its evidence—originally morphological—is seen by many as “merely descriptive” and, thereby, supposedly inferior to other forms of evidence. This has contributed to substantial and unwarranted damage to the status of this science and to the careers of taxonomists. The recent history of methodologies for species delimitation shows that what some have considered of low value (morphology), compared to “new” data (molecular), is in many cases the critical factor to delimit species. We propose to eschew these kinds of labels and simply refer to taxonomy to avoid stigmatizing of any kind of practicing taxonomist, whether focused on morphology, cytology, molecular biology, or other fields of biology. Taxonomy implies the use of the current best evidence, theories, and methods to demarcate species and their relationships.
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