“…They have also been applied as trace evidence in forensic science (Swindles and Ruffell, 2009), and for defining post-mortem intervals (Seppey et al, 2016;Szelecz et al, 2014). As these organisms produce decay-resistant tests, they are commonly applied in palaeoenvironmental research Lamentowicz et al, 2009;Seddon et al, 2014;Wilmshurst et al, 2003), and have been successfully used to reconstruct past moisture conditions across a broad range of climatic zones (McGlone and Wilmshurst, 1999;Royles et al, 2016;Swindles et al, 2015;Swindles et al, 2016;Wilmshurst et al, 2002). Although the interest in using these organisms in scientific research has notably increased over the last two decades, studies focusing on taxonomy, either morphometrically or phylogenetically, have not increased at the same rate .…”