Cryptic Species

Morphological Stasis, Circumscription, and Hidden Diversity

Alexandre K. Monro, Simon J. Mayo

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781316513644
• eBook ISBN:
  9781009083928
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Evolution
• Index: Biological Sciences

Cryptic species are organisms which look identical, but which represent distinct evolutionary lineages. They are an emerging trend in organismal biology across all groups, from flatworms, insects, amphibians, primates, to vascular plants. This book critically evaluates the phenomenon of cryptic species and demonstrates how they can play a valuable role in improving our understanding of evolution, in particular of morphological stasis. It also explores how the recognition of cryptic species is intrinsically linked to the so-called 'species problem', the lack of a unifying species concept in biology, and suggests alternative approaches. Bringing together a range of perspectives from practicing taxonomists, the book presents case studies of cryptic species across a range of animal and plant groups. It will be an invaluable text for all biologists interested in species and their delimitation, definition, and purpose, including undergraduate and graduate students and researchers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Series information
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Contents
• List of Contributors
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Cryptic Species: A Product of the Paradigm Difference between Taxonomic and Evolutionary Species
• 3 Species Circumscription in Cryptic Clades: A Nihilist's View
• 4 Multilevel Organismal Diversity in an Ontogenetic Framework as a Solution for the Species Concept
• 5 Diagnosability and Cryptic Nodes in Angiosperms: A Case Study from Ipomoea
• 6 Connecting Micro- and Macro-Evolutionary Research: Extant Cryptic Species as Systems to Understand Macro-Evolutionary Stasis
• 7 Coexisting Cryptic Species as a Model System in Integrative Taxonomy
• 8 The Implications of Coalescent Conspecific Genetic Samples in Plants
• 9 Guerrilla Taxonomy and Discriminating Cryptic Species: Is Quick Also Dirty?
• 10 Cryptic Lineages among Seychelles Herpetofauna
• 11 Cryptic Diversity in European Terrestrial Flatworms of the Genus Microplana (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Geoplanidae)
• Index