One of the ultimate aims of systematics is the reconstruction of the tree of life. This is a huge undertaking that is inhibited by the existence of a computational limit to the inclusiveness of phylogenetic analyses. Supertree methods have been developed to overcome, or at least to go around this problem by combining smaller, partially overlapping cladograms. Here, we present a very inclusive g...

The fossil record and systematics of murid rodents, reservoirs of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Palaearctic, Oriental, African, Nearctic and Neotropical, strongly support a Palaearctic origin of Leishmania. The fossil record and systematics of phlebotomine sand flies reinforce this idea. Interpretations of molecular data that place the origin of Leishmania in the Neotropical are incon...

Software patterns are a great aid in designing the architecture of application systems. They provide standard solutions for frequently occuring problems. This paper introduces a new schema for systematizing patterns. It arose from firstly, the investigation of a whole spectrum of different patterns and secondly, the application of the principles of human thinking to the classification of these ...

Th e family Gobiidae includes what are considered the typical gobies: small, usually marine fishes, with separate spinous and rayed dorsal fins and pelvic fi ns oft en joined into a disc, that live on or in the substrate and are generally inconspicuous. Color patterns may range from brightly patterned to drab and camoufl aged. Th e composition of this family has changed since the description of...

The classification of protozoa and other microorganisms above the organizational level of the bacteria has always been dependent on microscopy because the body sizes involved generally range from only one micrometre to one or two millimetres in length. Any structures these species possess, useful in comparative studies of their morphology and thus their taxonomyand systematics, are at the cellu...