Taxacom: Satyrium curiosolus sp. nov by SNPs alone

[John Grehan]

New article presents a new species that is apparently unambiguously
recognizable by a set of SNPs

Genomic and ecological divergence support recognition of a new species of
endangered Satyrium butterfly (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)
<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fzookeys.pensoft.net%2Farticle%2F143893%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C77bbd870016f48d8797108dd84ecd3b5%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638812874917726677%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=CxEoMA4I9YaqY%2FKulXr5LHsINTEJlvOhMl89q3pyLsQ%3D&reserved=0>

I have no problem with species being recognized solely by molecular
differences as this is no different to species recognized by internal
structural differences that are not evident externally (i.e. the defining
characteristics are 'cryptic'. The authors note that " identification
without reference to source locality is most reliably achieved by DNA as
follows, with representative (see Remarks section) diagnostic single
nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are fixed for S. curiosolus"  In their
Remarks section they note that " 21,985 SNPs across 22 scaffolds that were
fixed for alternate nucleotides between individuals from Alberta and those
from Montana and British Columbia"

I'm no molecular population theorists, but hopefully some on TAXACOM are,
and could comment on this, whether it is a strong indicator of species
level divergence rather than a geographic population divergence within a
molecular polytypic species.

Cheers,

John Grehan
-- 
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhepialidsoftheworld.com.au%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C77bbd870016f48d8797108dd84ecd3b5%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638812874917745598%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=A2OE6rY2AxZ4ABWdSZOVSqhKljtzcutgI0PVdpWu%2BXM%3D&reserved=0 (use the 'visit archived web site'
link, then the 'Ghost Moth Research page' link.