During the post-Darwinian history of taxonomy, the Linnaean hierarchy has maintained its role as a means for representing hierarchical taxonomic relationships. During the same period, the principle of descent has taken on an increasingly important role as the basis for reformulated versions of fundamental taxonomic concepts and principles. Early in this history, the principle of descent provide...

The impact and significance of modern taxonomy on other fields in biology have been subjects of much debate. It has been proposed that increasing numbers of vertebrate species are largely owing to 'taxonomic inflation'. According to this hypothesis, newly recognized species result from reinterpretations of species limits based on phylogenetic species concepts (PSCs) rather than from new discove...

In order to determine their taxonomic significance, 10 pericarp structure characters were scored for 21 Amaranthus L. taxa. In many, peri carp patterns permit recognition of the taxa as species. Differences between cultivated taxa and their wild relatives offer new arguments against their taxonomic union. The relationships between other closely related taxa are also analyzed (A. quitensis and A...

BACKGROUND The construction of comprehensive reference libraries is essential to foster the development of DNA barcoding as a tool for monitoring biodiversity and detecting invasive species. The looper moths of British Columbia (BC), Canada present a challenging case for species discrimination via DNA barcoding due to their considerable diversity and limited taxonomic maturity. METHODOLOGY/PR...

2. The palcogeography of the eastern Gulf Coast during Jacksonian (Late Eocene) limes was reconstructed by a combination taxonomic-morphologic method. For Tertiary faunules some of the precision lost by using taxonomic data alone, by the change from specific to generic level, is restored by adding morphologic data. This treatment of Jacksonian faunules is an elaboration of one introduced by L. ...