DNA barcode data accurately assign higher spider taxa by Jonathan A. Coddington, Ingi Agnarsson, Ren-Chung Cheng, Klemen Čandek, Amy Driskell, Holger Frick, Matjaž Gregorič, Rok Kostanjšek, Christian Kropf, Matthew Kweskin, Tjaša Lokovšek, Miha Pipan, Nina Vidergar, Matjaž Kuntner

“…Although both existing databanks such as GenBank and BOLD, as well as reference taxonomies, are imperfect, in best case scenarios “barcodes” (whether single or multiple, organelle or nuclear, loci) clearly are an increasingly fast and inexpensive method of identification, especially as compared to manual identification of unknowns by increasingly rare expert taxonomists. Because most species on Earth are undescribed, a complete reference database at the species level is impractical in the near term. …”
Get full text

Mexico’s Forest Diversity: Common Tree Species and Proposed Forest-Vegetation Provinces by Martin Ricker, Jorge Calónico, Miguel Á. Castillo-Santiago, Adolfo Galicia, Christoph Kleinn, Esteban M. Martínez-Salas, Edith Mondragón, Mauricio A. Mora, Leandro J. Ramos, Clara H. Ramos, Sergio A. Villela

“…We compared visual tree-species identifications in the field by hired crews, with much more rigorous identification of submitted (mostly sterile) herbarium specimens by experienced taxonomists and specialists at the National Herbarium: for 40% of the 22,659 collections, the identification of species names from the field was confirmed, for 32% it was corrected at the herbarium, and 27% had been sent without any identification. …”
Get full text

Morphological and genetic relationships among snakehead Channa striata (Bloch, 1793) populations in Peninsular Malaysia by Abdul Rahim, Mohammad Hafiz

“…These findings suggest that morphological and genetic studies provide the information required for increasing the efficiency of C. striata management in Peninsular Malaysia, which will be helpful in fisheries, and to biologists, and taxonomists studying these fascinating fishes.…”
Get full text

Identification of phlebotomine sand flies using one MALDI-TOF MS reference database and two mass spectrometer systems by Alexander Mathis, Jérôme Depaquit, Vit Dvořák, Holly Tuten, Anne-Laure Bañuls, Petr Halada, Sonia Zapata, Véronique Lehrter, Kristýna Hlavačková, Jorian Prudhomme, Petr Volf, Denis Sereno, Christian Kaufmann, Valentin Pflüger, Francis Schaffner

“…Conclusions A centralized high-quality database (created by expert taxonomists and experienced users of mass spectrometers) that is easily amenable to customer-oriented identification services is a highly desirable resource. …”
Get full text

Phylogeny of Libellulidae (Odonata: Anisoptera): comparison of molecular and morphology-based phylogenies based on wing morphology and migration by Shu-Ting Huang, Hai-Rui Wang, Wan-Qin Yang, Ya-Chu Si, Yu-Tian Wang, Meng-Lian Sun, Xin Qi, Yi Bai

“…Background Establishing the species limits and resolving phylogenetic relationships are primary goals of taxonomists and evolutionary biologists. At present, a controversial question is about interspecific phylogenetic information in morphological features. …”
Get full text

Molecular Diversity of Endophytic Fungi Isolated from Different Sections of Local Fruit Trees by Sim, Jiun Horng

“…Over the past three decades, endophytic fungi have attracted increasing attention among taxonomists, agronomists, ecologists and evolutionary scientist. …”
Get full text