Palestrante:
Dr. Dan J. Bickel
Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia
dan.bickel@austmus.gov.au
Unending Diversity:
Can the Life on the Planet be Completely Described or does Taxonomy have Limits?
The world’s biota is estimated to comprise between 4-10 million morphospecies, of which some 1.7 million are described. Proposals to describe all life on the earth fail to consider the immensity of "open-ended" taxa, highly speciose groups that span several biogeographic regions. The true diversity of such groups cannot be accurately estimated, and they are mostly uncollected/ unsorted and difficult to define at a generic level.
Using the Diptera (true flies) as an exemplar, examples are presented from various families. Comparison of well–known European faunas, local sympatry and endemicity, pseudo “hot-spots”, and the personal energy of collectors and taxonomists are discussed. The taxonomic description of all species is seen as impossible. What does that mean?
Anfitrião Acadêmico e Social: Laboratório de Morfologia e Evolução de Diptera
Local: Anfiteatro André Jacquemin
Início: 16:15 hs
