Research Article |
Corresponding author: Jaime Troncoso-Palacios ( jtroncosopalacios@gmail.com ) Academic editor: Johannes Penner
© 2019 Jaime Troncoso-Palacios, Margarita Ruiz De Gamboa, Roberto Langstroth, Juan Carlos Ortiz, Antonieta Labra.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Troncoso-Palacios J, Ruiz De Gamboa M, Langstroth R, Ortiz JC, Labra A (2019) Without a body of evidence and peer review, taxonomic changes in Liolaemidae and Tropiduridae (Squamata) must be rejected. ZooKeys 813: 39-54. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.813.29164
|
In his recent self-published book "Reptiles en Chile", Diego Demangel Miranda presented 13 taxonomic changes for liolaemid and tropidurid lizards. While these could be considered validly published according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, we show that these taxonomic propositions lack the necessary scientific rigor in terms of replicability, specimen work, lack of peer review and that they do not follow best practices accepted by the herpetological community. Therefore, we hereby invalidate all 13 taxonomic changes proposed in this book, leaving the taxonomy unaffected. Finally, we call attention to the potentially negative consequences of using these taxonomic changes in conservation and environmental impact studies as incorrect decisions might be taken in relation to the species involved.
Taxonomy, best practices, International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, synonymy, Liolaemus , Microlophus , Phymaturus
Field guides are a common source of information for the general public interested in the identification of plants and animals in a region. However, popular guidebooks are not intended to be vehicles for taxonomic decisions and should follow the taxonomy supported by the most recent peer-reviewed scientific studies. A reliable taxonomy, the science of describing, naming, and/or synonymizing taxa (
Recently, Diego Demangel Miranda published the book "Reptiles en Chile" (
The 619-page book starts with 20 pages of general overview (cover page, acknowledgments, prologue, preface, and presentation). Thereafter, it provides generalities about reptiles, as well as some information of their characteristics, evolution, and species concepts (pp. 21–39). It then provides a list of Chilean reptile species accepted by the author (pp. 40–44), and guidelines to facilitate the identification of the Chilean reptile groups in the field (pp. 45–50). Thereafter (pp. 51–59), the book gives data on biogeography and species conservation, followed by a glossary (pp. 60–63), and an explanation (pp. 64–65) of how to use the book according to the information provided for each species.
The bulk of the book (pp. 66–583) provides accounts of each species, including (for almost all species) three pages of photos of live individuals attributed to the species (each indicating the locality). Each species account begins with a caption indicating the species name, authority, and, in some cases, a list of “formal synonyms or other scientific names used in the last 30 years” (our translation, p. 64). However, the synonymies do not indicate the authority or year. Each species account has one page with text, including the etymology of the name, type locality, diagnosis, morphological features, distribution, natural history notes, some specific references, as well as a distribution map and usually three small photos. In total, this section has 143 pages of text (i.e., the text occupies a column, with maps and species photos occupying another column) and 375 pages of photos. Remarkably, the species accounts include three species names proposed by the author but following an unusual presentation for taxonomic descriptions. While standard taxonomic publication introduces the first use of the name and then presents the diagnostic traits and description of the holotype and other types in consecutive pages (e.g.,
The taxonomic notes section includes the changes proposed in the book: one for Tropiduridae (one synonymy) and 12 for Liolaemidae (nine synonymies and three proposed species). On pages 596–597, the author lists the type specimens for the three proposed species and provides a brief description of the holotypes. These two pages of descriptions also include three small photographs displaying the three holotypes in life as well as a photo of two live individuals (placed on the same rock), stating that these are individuals of two of the described species. Finally, the literature cited in Demangel Miranda’s book is presented on pp. 598–612, followed by the name index (pp. 614–618).
Although
Copies of Demangel Miranda’s book were first available on 30 June 2016 (2000 copies). We remark that some copies were sold before the launching (pers. obs.). The book was published by Fauna Nativa Ediciones and, to our knowledge, this is the first and sole book published by this company. Moreover, Fauna Nativa Ediciones is the publishing arm of Fauna Nativa Consultores SPA (http://www.faunanativa.cl), which is a company owned by Diego Demangel Miranda dedicated to wildlife evaluation services in regard to environmental impact studies. No editor is mentioned by
Summary of the taxonomic changes proposed by
Family | Genus / Subgenus (if correspond) | Taxon |
|
Recommendation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Liolaemidae | Liolaemus / Liolaemus (sensu stricto) | Liolaemus brattstroemi Donoso-Barros, 1961 | Synonym of Liolaemus pictus (Duméril & Bibron, 1837) | Not acceptable |
Liolaemus chungara Quinteros, Valladares, Semham, Acosta, Barrionuevo & Abdala, 2014 | Synonym of Liolaemus alticolor Barbour, 1909 | |||
Liolaemus kuhlmanni Müller & Hellmich, 1933 | Synonym of Liolaemus zapallarensis Müller & Hellmich, 1933 | |||
Liolaemus velosoi Ortiz, 1987 | Synonym of Liolaemus platei Werner, 1898 | |||
Liolaemus / Eulaemus | Liolaemus lopezi Ibarra-Vidal, 2005 | Synonym of Liolaemus ornatus Koslowsky, 1898 | ||
Liolaemus morandae Breitman, Parra, Pérez & Sites, 2011 | Synonym of Liolaemus lineomaculatus Boulenger, 1885 | |||
Liolaemus scolaroi Pincheira-Donoso & Núñez, 2005 | Synonym of Liolaemus zullyae Cei & Scolaro, 1996 | |||
Liolaemus | Liolaemus igneus | Proposed species | ||
Liolaemus tacora | Proposed species | |||
Liolaemus tolhuaca | Proposed species | |||
Phymaturus | Phymaturus aguedae Troncoso-Palacios & Esquerré, 2014 | Synonym of Phymaturus darwini Núñez, Veloso, Espejo, Veloso, Cortés & Araya, 2010 | ||
Phymaturus damasense Troncoso-Palacios & Lobo, 2012 | Synonym of Phymaturus maulense, Núñez, Veloso, Espejo, Veloso, Cortés & Araya, 2010 | |||
Tropiduridae | Microlophus | Microlophus yanezi (Ortiz, 1980) | Synonym of Microlophus theresioides (Donoso-Barros, 1966) |
The main failure of the taxonomic changes proposed by
In the following paragraphs, we provide additional information to support our conclusions that
One general problem is that
He cited
Moreover,
As previously pointed out, the major problem with the three species names proposed by
Finally,
In addition to the taxonomic instability produced by the propositions already discussed, the taxonomic and distributional changes performed in the book may potentially have major negative consequences affecting society at large. The use of this type of unreliable taxonomy by agencies or institutions dealing with biodiversity and conservation problems can lead to incorrect decisions with potential negative consequences such as the loss of biological resources (
The book also generates confusion about what is a taxonomic synonym. The listing of names as synonyms by
Later in 2016, Demangel Miranda launched a second field guide entitled "Reptiles del Centro Sur de Chile" (
Finally, concerning the Code, Article 8.1 requires that for a study to be considered as published for the purposes of zoological nomenclature “it must be issued for the purpose of providing a public and permanent scientific record”. The problem here is that the Code does not define “scientific record”.
We thank all our colleagues who encouraged us to write this review. JTP thanks Mario Penna for his support, and MRGA thanks Beca Conicyt Doctorado Nacional 2012, 21120577. We thank Hinrich Kaiser, Andrés Sebastián Quinteros, Richard Etheridge and Scott A. Thomson for all their suggestions and constructive criticism that allowed us to significantly improve this manuscript.