The order Diptera (Insecta), flies, is a megadiverse group, representing some 15% or more of the known species of organisms. Scientific names are tags to concepts (hypotheses), called species, by which we organize our knowledge of biodiversity. Our Systema Dipterorum provides an index to all scientific names related to flies, so access to our knowledge about them is readily available. Sherborn more than a century ago attempted to provide such an index to all animal names. He did provide an index to all names published up until and including 1850. We compare our indexes, revealing how standards have changed and the number of names increased. Today, more and better resources are being made available to us, such as the Biodiversity Heritage Library, and our standards are higher (new International Code of Zoological Nomenclature), but regardless of all the change, Sherborn for his time provided an almost perfect (99.9%) index.
Sherborn: Thompson & Pape - Sherborn’s critical influence in getting information control over a megadiverse group
1. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Systema Dipterorum
Sherborn’s critical influence in getting
information control over a megadiverse
group
F. Christian Thompson
Washington
Thomas Pape
Copenhagen
28 October 2011 London, England
2. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Diptera - Flies
Beautiful
Milesia Chrysotoxum
Ocyptamus Spilomyia
3. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Diptera - Flies
• Upper Permian - 250 million years ago
Permotipula
• Upper Triassic - 225 million years ago
Limonidae (1)
Bibionidae (1)
Procramptonomyiidae (1)
Crosaphididae (1)
Eoptychopteridae (1)
Ancient
4. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
The Numbers
Count:
Described species 158,453 (+1%)
Estimate:
Total Species 1,500,000 (- 66%)
6. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Flies = Critical to all of us
Today the issue of
climate change and its
effect on our World is
debated. It is a
complex issue that
involves many factors,
one of which is
pollination and our
plants.
Unfortunately, flies are
not properly
recognized for their
contributions.
7. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Diptera - Flies
Important
Aedes Disease transmission
Drosophila - Genetics
Allograpta - pollination
BioControl
Dacus - Plant Pests
9. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
USERS:
• People with a Name
– What does it Mean?
• People with a Specimen
– What is it? And then
• People with a Problem
– What is the cause? And then
10. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
What is it?
What does it do?
Where did it come from?
Is it the next INVASIVE SPECIES
All the answers come from knowing a NAME!
11. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Knowledge
• Growth of
• Access to
– Systematic / taxonomic
– Literature
• Bibliographies
• Indexes
12. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
180000
200000 1758
1773
1784
1795
1806
1817
1828
1839
1850
1861
1872
1883
1894
1905
1916
1927
1938
1949
1960
1971
1982
1993
2004
names
valid species
68
530
417
1720
969
1345
Growth in number of names and species through time
13. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Growth in number of authors through time
Year of first published description
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1758
1769
1780
1791
1802
1813
1824
1835
1846
1857
1868
1879
1890
1901
1912
1923
1934
1945
1956
1967
1978
1989
2000
14. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Knowledge
As the universe of Knowledge grew, workers
subdivide it into more manageable pieces
By Group
By Time
By Geography
By People
15. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Systematic / Taxonomic
• All
– Linnaeus – Systema Naturae (1758-
– Gmelin – Systema Naturae 13th
ed (1790)
• Entomology
– Fabricius – Systema Entomologica (1775)
• Diptera
– Fabricius – Systema Antliatorum
• Regional, etc
– Meigen & Wiedemann (1800-1850)
16. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Systematic / Taxonomic
• Catalogs
– Regional
• Osten Sacken – 1858 North America
• Dipterists – 1965-1989 all 6 biotic regions
– World
• Kertesz (1902-1910) incomplete
• Systema Dipterorum (1984-Today)
17. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Bibliographies / Indexes
• Bibliographies
– Agassiz et alia: Zoology (1848-1854)
– Hagen: Entomology (1862-1863) <1864
– Derksen & Scheiding (1965-1975) 1864-1900
– Evenhuis (1997) Diptera <1930
– And various regional and taxon bibliographies
• Indexes
– Sherborn (1902-1932) <1850
– Zoological Record (1864-)
– Generic names
• Agassiz (1846/7)
• Marshall (1873)
• Scudder (1882-1884)
• Neave (1920-1993 printed)
• Schulze et alia (1920-1935)
18. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Sherborn
• Standards - Minimal
– Strickland Code (1842)
• Data: Discovery, Capture, Management =
Manual
• Literature – Accessibility
– Limited, Difficult
• RESULTS
– Outstanding (99.9%)
19. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Sherborn
• Data
– 6 fields for names
– 2 classification levels (genus, order)
– 2 elements for Code compliance
– 3 fields for bibliographic data
• Results
– Musca names (1,807 names; 3 errors, 1 missing)
• Thompson & Pont (1994)
– Diptera genera (1,959 names Sherborn)
• Missed names (43)
• Missed misspelling / emendations (380; 147 Agassiz)
• Missed names due to rules changes (17)
• Systema Dipterorum (2,405 names; 27 names missed [11 Agassiz!)
23. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
TODAY
• Builders
– AnimalBase (Pre 1790)
– Zoological Record
– Systema Dipterorum (And other group databases, WoRMS)
– ZooBank ????
• Consolidators
– IT IS
– Species2000
– GBIF (???GNA)
– uBio
– Joel Hallan
• Users
– Encyclopedia of Life, ZipCode Zoo, et cetera
24. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Systema Dipterorum
• Standards - High
– International Code of Zoological
Nomenclature (4th
Edition)
• Data: Discovery, Capture, Management =
partially automated
• Literature – Accessibility
– Excellent (BioDiversity Heritage Library, etc)
• RESULTS
– Unknown, probably very good!
25. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Systema Dipterorum
• Data
– 16 fields for names
– 16 classification levels (order, family, tribe, genus,
plus supra, sub, infra)
– About 12 elements of Code compliance
– 9 fields of bibliographic data
• Results
We are much better than all our predecessor put
together! Because we combine, review, and enhance
their work along with adding much more and more
new recent information!
26. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Systema Dipterorum
Today
• number of records:
– 200,603 species names (162,514 valid)
– 23,404 genera (12,067 valid)
– 32,684 references
• records compared to original literature:
– 37,629 species (~18 %)
– 6,589 genera (~28 %)
as of 28 October 2011
30. The BioSystematic Database of World Diptera
Thanks
• Schlinger Foundation [2000-- ]
• Species2000 [2010]
• Once, but limited
– USDA, ARS
– GBIF
– Smithsonian Institution
• Diptera Research Community
• Irina Brake, Neal Evenhuis, Adrian Pont
Notas del editor
&lt;number&gt;
&lt;number&gt;
On this graph you can see the growth in the number of names and species through time. I have added the average number of species described per year. The early 19. century was very productive due to authors like Meigen and Wiedemann. Then there was an ebbing with only 417 descriptions per year. The pace picked up at the start of the 20. century, which was very productive with 1720 descriptions per year. World War 2 brought an end to this productive phase and since then the average growth is quite stable with 1345 descriptions.
Growth in number of authors over time
With which we have arrived today. Now, we have the BDWD, currently online as version 8.5. The nomenclator is about 90% done and holds over 191.000 species and 22.500 genus names. Of these 154.000 represent valid species and 11.700 valid genera. The references database includes more than 21.000 references. The nomenclator is a great tool for finding names and is the envy of entomologists working on other groups of insects. It is online available at ‘The Diptera Site’.