Taxacom: Species described based on a single collection

[=?utf-8?Q?Pablo_Mu=C3=B1oz?=]

Dear Laurent and all,

In 2020 I and colleagues at Edinburgh & Oxford published 'How long does it take to discover a species?'. We wanted to answer that question, and also investigate how long it takes to accumulate a minimum number of specimens of a species (across Angiosperms) to enable subsequent studies. Zoe Goodwin's (first author, now RBGE) thesis went further into these questions.

As an example, we checked all new plant species described in Kew Bulletin between 1970 and 2010 (3322 in total). We found 89% of them cited less than 10 specimens and c. 30% cited only one specimen.

The paper is available here: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tandfonline.com%2Fdoi%2Ffull%2F10.1080%2F14772000.2020.1751339&data%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Ce7c366609f554ecf8e7308db1332866e%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638124879967661984%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdataXd6dOegGY3J7MRcQe4bliCCiJJ%2Bb9vv99myu5tXPf4%3D&reserved=0, supplementary files also relevant. Let me know if you do not have access!

Best wishes,
Pablo

Pablo Mu?oz-Rodr?guez, D.Phil.
Ram?n y Cajal Fellow
Universidad Complutense de Madrid

President of the Systematics Association



------- Original Message -------
On Sunday, February 19th, 2023 at 21:53, Laurent Gautier via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:


> Dear all,
> 
> We often hear or read: "A huge amount of Amazon plant species are known
> only from the type" or "Most XIXth century species descriptions are based
> on a single specimen". But has anybody gone any further in metrics?
> 
> I am looking for statistics (published or not) on the percentage of
> species descriptions based on a single specimen (or collection), and
> possibly its variation across time or geographical area considered.
> 
> Does that ring a bell to anybody? My main focus is on flowering plants,
> but all living organisms welcome!
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Laurent Gautier
> Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques, Geneva, Switzerland
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