Molecular Systematics and the Evolution of Arthropods - Insect Molecular Genetics - page 568

techniques and analysis methods continue to be developed. Time will resolve
which are most useful for particular problems. One problem (How different
does a group need to be to be considered a different species [or a family or
an order or a class?]), however, remains a matter of judgment by the scientist
studying the group. There is no uniform answer to that question.
What are the costs of describing the entire animal kingdom? Carbayo
and Marques (2011) noted that ≈ 1.4 million of the estimated 6.8 million ani-
mal species have been described. They estimated that an average researcher
describes 24.8 species on average during his/her career, with an average cost
of US$97,000/year (with careers lasting from 1 year to 46 years). This suggests
that the total cost to describe the remaining animal species is US$263 billion.
Furthermore, at the current rate of describing 16,000 species per year with the
current generation of trained taxonomists, it will take 360 years to fully cata-
logue animal diversity. Carbayo and Marques (2011) noted the “future need for
greater numbers of taxonomists working on invertebrate groups (particularly
insects) is enormous.” Clearly, there remains much work to be done to describe
the world's biota and, most especially, the arthropods, which have been esti-
mated to consist of 3.7 million species ( Strain 2011 ).
Relevant Journals
Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics , Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, CA.
BMC Evolutionary Biology , BioMed Central, http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcevolbiol/about
Cladistics , Wiley Publishers, Malden, MA.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology , Wiley Publishers, Malden, MA.
Journal of Molecular Evolution , Springer, New York.
Molecular Biology and Evolution , Oxford University Press/Highware Press, Cary, NC.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution , Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution , Cell Press, Elsevier, London, UK.
Trends in Genetics , Cell Press, Cambridge, MA.
References Cited
Adoutte, A., Balavoine, G., Lartillot, N., Lespinet, O., Prudhomme, B., and de Rosa, R., (2000). The
new animal phylogeny: reliability and implications. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97 : 4453-4456.
Altincicek, B., Kovacs, J.L., and Gerardo, N.M., (2012). Horizontally transferred fungal carotenoid
genes in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae . Biol. Lett. 8 : 253-257.
Alvarez, J.M., and Hoy, M.A., (2002). Evaluation of the ribosomal ITS2 DNA sequences in separating
closely related populations of the parasitoid Ageniaspis (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). Ann.
Entomol. Soc. Am. 95 : 250-256.
Anderson, D.L., and Trueman, J.W.H., (2000). Varroa jacobsoni (Acari: Varroidae) is more than one
species. Exp. Appl. Acarol. 24 : 165-189.
Arbogast, B.S., Edwards, S.V., Wakeley, J., Beerli, P., and Slowinski, J.B., (2002). Estimating
divergence times from molecular data on phylogenetic and population genetic timescales.
Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 33 : 707-740.