Andrew Baird and Tom Bridge have just returned from a week sampling the corals of the Lord Howe Island Marine Park (LHIMP), the world’s southernmost coral reef. Andrew, along with many colleagues from Project Phoenix, has been working to quantify the biodiversity of the corals of the island for over 10 years. On his first … Continue reading March 2021 Lord Howe Island
News
Wepfer et al. (2021) have now written a reply to Bonito et al. (2021)
You can access the reply here. They accept that their work will need to be repeated using the approach outlined in Bonito et al. 2021 i.e. test all nominal species in the genus Galaxea using vouchered topotypes. Knowing where to look for topotypes will soon become much easier once Project Phoenix finish compiling a nomenclature for the … Continue reading Wepfer et al. (2021) have now written a reply to Bonito et al. (2021)
March 2021 Solitary Islands
Andrew Baird has just returned from a field trip to the Solitary Islands Marine Park (SIMP). The weather and sea conditions were brilliant, with light winds and the deep warm blue of the East Australia Current bathing the outer islands of the group. Project Phoenix have been working in the SIMP since 2010 to document … Continue reading March 2021 Solitary Islands
Workshop on the use of nomenclatures in taxonomy
Author: Andrew Baird The Project Phoenix Townsville + Sydney + Perth crew ran a workshop on the use of nomenclatures in taxonomy on 19th February 2021. The workshop outlined how to put together a useful nomenclature and how to use a nomenclature to progress coral taxonomy. The bottom line is that working within the “accepted” … Continue reading Workshop on the use of nomenclatures in taxonomy
Types, topotypes and vouchers are the key to progress in coral taxonomy: Comment on Wepfer et al. (2020)
Victor Bonito, Andrew Baird, Tom Bridge, Peter Cowman, and Doug Fenner recently published a Letter to the Editor on Wepfer et al. (2020) re-iterating why the current accepted coral taxonomy is not the place to begin when examining species boundaries or evolutionary relationships in scleractinian corals. They highlighted how the taxonomic value of the study … Continue reading Types, topotypes and vouchers are the key to progress in coral taxonomy: Comment on Wepfer et al. (2020)
Paper appraisal for Gómez-Corrales and Prada (2020) on Faculty Opinions
Andrew Baird and Hugo Harrison recently published an appraisal of a great paper by Gómez-Corrales & Prada (2020) that highlights one situation where you need to get your taxonomy correct – establishing the bleaching susceptibility of coral species. If your institution does not have access to Faculty Opinions, please contact Andrew or Hugo for a … Continue reading Paper appraisal for Gómez-Corrales and Prada (2020) on Faculty Opinions
Interview with the Strasbourg Zoological Museum
In an interview with the Strasbourg Zoological Museum (Musée Zoologique de Strasbourg), Andrew Baird discusses why museum visits are such an essential part of taxonomic research. Watch the video on their Facebook page. Thank you Musée Zoologique de Strasbourg for having us! [Image: Strasbourg Zoological Museum] [Image: Strasbourg Cathedral]
Media Release: Project Phoenix – DNA unlocks a new understanding of coral
Our core members Pete Cowman, Andrea Quattrini, Tom Bridge, and Andrew Baird have been interviewed for their recent paper introducing a new tool for phylogenomic analyses of scleractinian corals. Read the full article by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies:Project Phoenix: DNA unlocks a new understanding of coral Literature cited Cowman, P.F., … Continue reading Media Release: Project Phoenix – DNA unlocks a new understanding of coral
New paper: An enhanced target-enrichment bait set for Hexacorallia provides phylogenomic resolution of the staghorn corals (Acroporidae) and close relatives
Graphical Abstract Congratulations to Peter Cowman and co-authors for a paper just accepted in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. The paper presents a molecular approach that has the potential to provide species level resolution with the Genus Acropora – the Holy Grail for Acropora taxonomy. The results of the phylogenomic analysis are profound (see quote below) … Continue reading New paper: An enhanced target-enrichment bait set for Hexacorallia provides phylogenomic resolution of the staghorn corals (Acroporidae) and close relatives
Project Phoenix Retreat 2020 at Puzzle Creek
The Project Phoenix Townsville Hub and collaborators has recently gathered in Puzzle Creek, Queensland for a team retreat. The purpose of this retreat was to discuss the kick-off of Project Phoenix, to have a PhD confirmation seminar, and to get to know each other better in a beautiful open-air environment. The team comprised of Project … Continue reading Project Phoenix Retreat 2020 at Puzzle Creek
