The importance of being integrative: a remarkable case of synonymy in the genus Viridiscus (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscidae).

ABSTRACT: There are two predominant sources of taxonomically useful morphological variability in the diverse tardigrade family Echiniscidae: the internal structure and surface sculpture of the cuticular plates covering the dorsum (sculpturing) and the arrangement and morphology of the trunk appendages (chaetotaxy). However, since the appendages often exhibit intraspecific variation (they can be reduced or can develop asymmetrically), sculpturing has been considered more stable at the species level and descriptions of new echiniscid species based solely on morphology are still being published. Here, we present a case study in which a detailed analysis of the morphology and multiple genetic markers of several species of the genus Viridiscus shows that cuticular sculpture may also exhibit considerable

SUBMITTER: Gasiorek P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8605589 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature