Catalina Ramírez-Portilla and colleagues from Project Phoenix have just published a paper in Systematic Biology titled Solving the Coral Species Delimitation Conundrum. In this case study, the authors focused on delineating tabular Acropora species in Okinawa (Japan) using morphology, cross-breeding trials and DNA sequences. Tabular Acropora spp. are notoriously difficult to identify, a phenomenon that … Continue reading New paper: Solving the Coral Species Delimitation Conundrum
News
Review for Coral Finder 2021
Coral Finder 2021 (CF2021) is a significant milestone for all those interested in coral identification. For the first time since the molecular revolution threw coral taxonomy into a state of chaos, there is now a guide that summarises all the changes at the family and genus level in a single publication. Russell Kelley, author of … Continue reading Review for Coral Finder 2021
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)
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
Changing coral taxonomy: What can we do in the meantime?
Author: Hanaka Mera As a PhD student, if someone told me that the species I am working with (or planning on) for my research project actually might be something entirely different or might be five different species, it would be quite overwhelming, maybe feel a bit devastated. This could be true for any researcher or … Continue reading Changing coral taxonomy: What can we do in the meantime?
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