Left: one
species (Mesabolivar eberhardi)
or three
species? In many cases, the decision is difficult and to some
degree arbitrary.
Right: In morphologically unambiguous cases, conspecifics had
significantly
less variation (here 16S) among specimens than different species from
the
same genus.
The identification of species using molecular characters is a promising approach in alpha taxonomy and in any discipline depending on reliable assignment of specimens. In this study, we evaluate and calibrate molecular species (re-)identification within a closely related group of organisms by using specimens that are morphologically unambiguously either conspecific or not. Species limits hypothesized a priori based on morphology were almost universally reconstructed by both mitochondrial markers used (16S and CO1). |