TY  - JOUR
T1  - Taxonomic Revision in the Genomic Era Requires Reproducible Treatment of Species Concepts, Synonymy, and Changing Evidence
A1  - Andreas Müller
A1  - Stefan Weber
A1  - Julia Hoffmann
A1  - Lukas Schneider
A1  - Tobias Klein
JF  - Entomological Research Letters
JO  - Entomol Res Lett
SN  - 3108-639X
Y1  - 2024
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
DO  - 10.51847/miojxpznbk
SP  - 42
EP  - 51
N2  - Genomic datasets have transformed insect systematics by increasing the resolution with which population structure, lineage divergence, introgression, discordance and cryptic diversity can be detected. Yet greater analytical resolution does not by itself make taxonomic revision more reproducible. Species boundaries remain interpretive conclusions formed from evidence under an explicit or implicit species concept, while synonymy and splitting additionally require historical names, type-associated information, geography, morphology and other evidence to be reconciled with contemporary molecular results. This perspective argues that revision reproducibility therefore depends on preserving the inferential path between observation and nomenclatural action rather than merely preserving sequence data or executable analyses. We develop a proposed Revision-Provenance Framework that separates evidence classes, analytical outputs, species criteria, taxonomic interpretations, historical name application and subsequent evidence updates. Published insect revisions show why these distinctions matter: genome-scale analyses can support synonymy, reveal previously unrecognized species, expose conflicts with mitochondrial diagnostics, or alter higher-level classification, and the direction of change is strongly dependent on taxon, geography, sampling and analytical assumptions. Historical names constitute a separate evidential problem because genomic lineages cannot be assigned nomenclatural identity without traceable connections to specimens, types and prior usage. The framework consequently treats revision as a versioned scientific decision whose rationale should remain reconstructable when evidence changes. It is proposed as an auditable organizational architecture, not as a validated algorithm for discovering objectively correct species boundaries.
UR  - https://esvpub.com/article/taxonomic-revision-in-the-genomic-era-requires-reproducible-treatment-of-species-concepts-synonymy-zavk10xwyfri4u5
ER  -