Fundamentals in Systematics

Wed Mar 8 09:22:16 CST 2006

Actually I'll follow up my own post here.  The papers I included  
below are for an undergraduate class, but I don't really see much  
difference since we don't have too much graduate coursework here.

Also, the papers I listed aren't necessarily classic papers - in fact  
maybe none of them are.  One of the hardest things is to get the  
students interested in systematics.  I try to do a good job - one  
student told me that I was really good at making really boring things  
sound like fun!  I'm not sure how much of a compliment that was  
though!  I try to get them engaged in controversy.  Hence discussions  
on things like the balance between nomenclatural stability and  
achieving a phylogenetic classification, and things like that.

Cheers, David Orlovich.

On 08/03/2006, at 9:11 AM, David Orlovich wrote:

> On 8/03/2006, at 4:56 AM, Susan B. Farmer wrote:
>
>> If you were going to teach a Fundamentals of Systematics class, what
>> papers would you include?
>>
>> Susan
>>
>
> Well these are the ones I've just put together for this semester.   
> I also include a selection of my own papers, that I haven't listed  
> here.  I admit it is an eclectic mix.  The students get a few  
> lectures from me on each topic, and we dedicate at least a lecture  
> per topic to discussing the literature.
>
> Cheers, David Orlovich
>
> Classification
>
> Mayr E 1998. Perspective. Two empires or three. Proceedings of the  
> National Academy of Sciences USA 95, 9720-9723.
>
> Woese CR 1998. Perspective. Default taxonomy: Ernst Mayr’s view of  
> the microbial world. Proceedings of the National Academy of  
> Sciences USA 95, 11043-11046.
>
> Nomenclature
>
> Entwisle TJ, Weston PH 2005. Majority rules, when systematists  
> disagree. Australian Systematic Botany 18, 1-6.
>
> Phylogenetics
>
> Funk VA 2001. SSZ 1970-1989: A view of the years of conflict.  
> Systematic Biology 50, 153-155.
>
> Felsenstein J 2001. The troubled growth of statistical  
> phylogenetics. Systematic Biology 50, 465-467.
>
> Hibbett DS, Gilbert L-B, Donoghue MJ 2000. Evolutionary instability  
> of ectomycorrhizal symbioses in basidiomycetes. Nature 407,  
> 506-508. (example of use of phylogenetic trees)
>
> Barkman TJ, Lim S-H, Salleh KM, Nais J 2004. Mitochondrial DNA  
> sequences reveal the photosynthetic relatives Rafflesia, the  
> world’s largest flower. Proceedings of the National Academy of  
> Sciences USA 101, 787-792.
>
> Barkman TJ, Chenery G, McNeal JR, Lyons-Weiler J, Ellisens WJ,  
> Moore G, Wolfe AD, dePamphilis CW 2000. Independent and combined  
> analyses of sequences from all three genomic compartments converge  
> on the root of flowering plantphylogeny. Proceedings of the  
> National Academy of Sciences USA 97, 13116-13171.
>
> I try to get a debate going about the current focus on molecular  
> systematics, and give the students the following papers.
>
> Isley D 1972. The disappearance. Taxon 21, 3-12.
>
> Lammers TG 1999. Commentary. Plant systematics today: All our eggs  
> in one basket? Systematic Botany 24, 494-496.
>
> Stace CA 2005. Plant taxonomy and biosystematics – does DNA provide  
> all the answers? Taxon 54, 999-1007.
>
> Cresci JV 2006. Commentary. One-dimensional systematist: Perils in  
> a time of steady progress. Systematic Botany 31, 217-221.
>
> Hebert PDN, Cywinska A, Ball SL 2002. Biological identifications  
> through DNA barcodes. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London,  
> Series B DOI10.1098/rspb.2002.2218.
>
> Hebert PDN, Stoeckle MY, Zemlak TS, Francis CM 2004. Identification  
> of birds through DNA barcodes. PLoS Biology 2, e312.
>
> Hebert PDN, Penton EH, Burns JM, Janzen DH, Hallwachs W 2004. Ten  
> species in one; DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the  
> neotropical skipper butterfly Astraptes fulgerator. Proceedings of  
> the National Academy of Sciences USA101, 14812-14817.
>
> Moritz C, Cicero C 2004. Correspondence: DNA barcoding: Promise and  
> pitfalls. PLoS Biology 2, e354.
>
>
>
>> And on a similar note to the Phylogenetics text question ...
>>
>> In our department, there are several "Fundamentals" classes that all
>> graduate students are required to take wherein they read the classic
>> papers of the particular topic -- "Fundamentals in Evolution" and
>> "Fundamentals of Ecology" for 2 of them.
>>
>> If you were going to teach a Fundamentals of Systematics class, what
>> papers would you include?
>>
>> Susan
>> -----
>> Susan Farmer
>> sfarmer at goldsword.com
>> University of Tennessee
>> Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
>> http://www.goldsword.com/sfarmer/Trillium/
>>
> Dr David Orlovich,
> Senior Lecturer in Botany.
>
> Department of Botany,
> University of Otago,
> P.O. Box 56,
> (Courier: 464 Great King Street)
> Dunedin,
> New Zealand.
>
> Phone: +643 479 9060
> Fax: +643 479 7583
> Mobile: +6421 122 7230
>
> Web: http://www.botany.otago.ac.nz/
>
> Ecology, Conservation and Biodiversity Research Group: http:// 
> www.otago.ac.nz/erg/
>
> Botanical Society of Otago: http://www.botany.otago.ac.nz/bso/

Dr David Orlovich,
Senior Lecturer in Botany.

Department of Botany,
University of Otago,
P.O. Box 56,
(Courier: 464 Great King Street)
Dunedin,
New Zealand.

Phone: +643 479 9060
Fax: +643 479 7583
Mobile: +6421 122 7230

Web: http://www.botany.otago.ac.nz/
Ecology, Conservation and Biodiversity Research Group: http:// 
www.otago.ac.nz/erg/
Botanical Society of Otago: http://www.botany.otago.ac.nz/bso/
Fungal Network of New Zealand: http://www.funnz.org.nz/