TY - JOUR

T1 - How not to describe a species: lessons from a tangle of anacondas (Boidae: Eunectes Wagler, 1830)

AU - Wüster, Wolfgang

AU - Kaiser, Hinrich

AU - Hoogmoed, Marinus S.

AU - Ceríaco, Luis M.P.

AU - Dirksen, Lutz

AU - Dufresnes, Christophe

AU - Glaw, Frank

AU - Hille, Axel

AU - Köhler, Jörn

AU - Koppetsch, Thore

AU - Milto, Konstantin D.

AU - Shea, Glenn M.

AU - Tarkhnishvili, D.N.

AU - Thomson, Scott A.

AU - Vences, Miguel

AU - Böhme, Wolfgang

PY - 2024/8/19

Y1 - 2024/8/19

N2 - A recent revision of the anacondas (Serpentes: Boidae: Eunectes), with the description of a new species of green anaconda, generated extensive publicity, but also provoked considerable controversy due to inadequacies of the evidence used and errors in nomenclature. We here use the case of this problematic publication to: (i) highlight common issues affecting species delimitations, especially an over-reliance on mitochondrial DNA data, and reiterate best practices; (ii) reanalyse the data available for anacondas to establish the true current state of knowledge and to highlight lines of further research; and (iii) analyse the nomenclatural history and status of the genus. While our analysis reveals significant morphological variation in both green and yellow anacondas, denser sampling and an analysis of informative nuclear markers are required for meaningful species delimitation in Eunectes. Tracing the history of name-bearing types establishes Trinidad as the type locality for Boa murina Linnaeus, 1758 and allows identification of the extant lectotype for the species. Finally, we emphasize the responsibility of both journals and authors to ensure that published taxonomic work meets the burden of evidence required to substantiate new species descriptions and that species are named in compliance with the rules of zoological nomenclature.

AB - A recent revision of the anacondas (Serpentes: Boidae: Eunectes), with the description of a new species of green anaconda, generated extensive publicity, but also provoked considerable controversy due to inadequacies of the evidence used and errors in nomenclature. We here use the case of this problematic publication to: (i) highlight common issues affecting species delimitations, especially an over-reliance on mitochondrial DNA data, and reiterate best practices; (ii) reanalyse the data available for anacondas to establish the true current state of knowledge and to highlight lines of further research; and (iii) analyse the nomenclatural history and status of the genus. While our analysis reveals significant morphological variation in both green and yellow anacondas, denser sampling and an analysis of informative nuclear markers are required for meaningful species delimitation in Eunectes. Tracing the history of name-bearing types establishes Trinidad as the type locality for Boa murina Linnaeus, 1758 and allows identification of the extant lectotype for the species. Finally, we emphasize the responsibility of both journals and authors to ensure that published taxonomic work meets the burden of evidence required to substantiate new species descriptions and that species are named in compliance with the rules of zoological nomenclature.

KW - Eunectes

KW - Species delimitation

KW - new species

KW - mitochondrial DNA

KW - lectotype

KW - type locality

KW - nomenclature

KW - International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

U2 - 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae099

DO - 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae099

M3 - Article

VL - 201

JO - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

JF - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

SN - 0024-4082

IS - 4

ER -