基于遗传单系与鉴别特征的系统发生种的划分及其对哺乳动物分类学的意义

Abstract

A recently proposed taxonomic classification of extant ungulates sparked a series of publications that criticize the Phylogenetic Species Concept (PSC) claiming it to be a particularly poor species concept. These opinions reiteratively stated that (1) the two fundamental elements of the "PSC", i.e., monophyly and diagnosability, do not offer objective criteria as to where the line between species should be drawn; and (2) that extirpation of populations can lead to artificial diagnosability and spurious recognitions of species. This sudden eruption of criticism against the PSC is misleading. Problems attributed to the PSC are common to most approaches and concepts that modern systematists employ to establish species boundaries. The controversial taxonomic propositions that sparked criticism against the PSC are indeed highly problematic, not because of the species concept upon which they are based, but because no evidence (whatsoever) has become public to support a substantial portion of the proposed classification. We herein discuss these topics using examples from mammals. Numerous areas of biological research rest upon taxonomic accuracy (including conservation biology and biomedical research); hence, it is necessary to clarify what are (and what are not) the real sources of taxonomic inaccuracy.

Inferring the mammal tree: Species-level sets of phylogenies for questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation

“…Importantly, we excluded most of the 227 new species of Artiodactyla described recently (41.1% of the total; [170]) because they nearly all derive from the monograph of Groves and Grubb [171] and are unvetted genetically [166,167,172]. We conservatively include 348 species in Artiodactlya rather than 551 [170,173] but still find elevated tip rates in whale- and cow-related lineages (clades 36 and 37, Fig 1), suggesting that those rates may be underestimates.…”

Taxonomic revision and phylogenetic position of the flying squirrel genus Biswamoyopterus (Mammalia, Rodentia, Sciuridae, Pteromyini) on the northern Indo-China peninsula

“…These factors were also true for samples L35 and M644, being separated by a long distance of more than 1000 km and different ventral pelage colors. Eliécer and Guilherme (2018) performed a study on species delimitation based on diagnosis and monophyly. The current molecular results and the morphological variability observed between Biswamoyopterus specimens M644 and L35 indicate that further studies should be performed to shed light on the relationships among B.…”