The New Taxonomy (Systematics Association Special Volume)

"The most fundamental of all biological sciences, taxonomy underpins any long term strategies for reconstructing the great tree of life or salvaging as much biodiversity as possible. Yet we are still unable to say with any certainty how many species are living on the Earth. The New Taxonomy describes how a confluence of theory, cyberinfrastructure and international teamwork can meet this unprecedented research challenge and marks an emerging field, cybertaxonomy." "The book examines the efforts of several international groups to catalog the world's biodiversity and make it accessible. An answer to Julian Huxley's The New Systematics, the book signals the beginning of an upward trajectory of taxonomy to meet the unprecedented challenges of the biodiversity crisis. Contemporary taxonomists reclaim the unique mission, goals and importance of taxonomy as an independent science. They cover technologies such as DNA evidence and its applications, computer-assisted species identification, digital morphology and E-typification."--Jacket.