‘New’ species are not always new: a case study of Ephedra sumlingensis and E. khurikensis (Ephedraceae)

Rather, Zubair Ahmad; Hussain, Khalid; Dwivedi, Mayank Dhar; Dar, Tanvir Ul Hassan; Dar, Abdul Rashid; Khuroo, Anzar Ahmad

Historically, and even today, discovery of new species has remained one of the primary research activities driving the discipline of taxonomy. Discovering scientifically still unknown biodiversity is critical in addressing the taxonomic impediment which is hampering our progress to meet the challenges of global biodiversity crisis. However, in the rush to accelerate the rate of new species’ discoveries, it is crucial to follow objective, stable and reproducible taxonomic criteria. Otherwise, new species’ discoveries based solely on subjective, unstable and non-reproducible characters can be cause of artificial taxonomic inflation in biodiversity data with wider implications in conservation policy and practice. In this study, by integrating empirical evidences from multiple sources, we critically evaluate the validity of two recently described new species of Ephedra in India (E. sumlingensis and E. khurikensis) to underscore the fact that all ‘new’ species are not always new. Use of morphologically plastic characters in diagnosis, discrepancies in the protologues and inconsistencies with the freshly collected live specimens from the type localities clearly revealed that both these species unambiguously fall within the circumscription of already known E. intermedia. With further support from robust analyses of morphometric and molecular data, we recognise both the species as new synonyms of E. intermedia. Based on the lessons learnt from this study, we suggest recommendations to be practised by the taxonomists to avoid such pitfalls in biodiversity data due to arbitrary new species’ discoveries.

Plant Systematics & Evolution, 2022, Vol 308, Issue 4, p1

0378-2697

Academic Journal

10.1007/s00606-022-01815-1