Cryptic Species
Morphological Stasis, Circumscription, and Hidden Diversity

This book critically evaluates cryptic species - a growing trend in taxonomy - and their importance for evolutionary biology.

Alexandre K. Monro (Edited by), Simon J. Mayo (Edited by)

9781316513644, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 September 2022

350 pages, 75 b/w illus.
26.2 x 21 x 2.2 cm, 0.89 kg

'This is rewarding reading for evolutionary biologists and geneticists, and perhaps also for philosophers … Recommended.' M. Gochfeld, Choice

Cryptic species are organisms which look identical, but which represent distinct evolutionary lineages. They are an emerging trend in organismal biology across all groups, from flatworms, insects, amphibians, primates, to vascular plants. This book critically evaluates the phenomenon of cryptic species and demonstrates how they can play a valuable role in improving our understanding of evolution, in particular of morphological stasis. It also explores how the recognition of cryptic species is intrinsically linked to the so-called 'species problem', the lack of a unifying species concept in biology, and suggests alternative approaches. Bringing together a range of perspectives from practicing taxonomists, the book presents case studies of cryptic species across a range of animal and plant groups. It will be an invaluable text for all biologists interested in species and their delimitation, definition, and purpose, including undergraduate and graduate students and researchers.

List of Contributors
1. Introduction Alexandre K. Monro
2. Cryptic species: A product of the paradigm difference between taxonomic and evolutionary species Simon J. Mayo
3. Species circumscription in cryptic clades: A Nihilist's view Richard M. Bateman
4. Multilevel organismal diversity in an ontogenetic framework as a solution for the species concept Alexander Martynov and Tatiana Korshunova
5. Diagnosability and cryptic nodes in Angiosperms: A case study from Ipomoea Pablo Muñoz-Rodríguez, John. R. I. Wood and Robert W. Scotland
6. Connecting micro- and macro-evolutionary research – extant cryptic species as systems to understand macro-evolutionary stasis Torsten H. Struck and José Cerca
7. Coexisting cryptic species as a model system in integrative taxonomy Cene Fišer and Klemen Koselj
8. Non-monophyletic species are common in plants: An ecological evolutionary perspective Matt Lavin and R. Toby Pennington
9. Guerrilla taxonomy and discriminating cryptic species – is quick also dirty? Paul H. Williams
10. Cryptic lineages among Seychelles herpetofauna Jim Labisko, Simon T. Maddock, Sara Rocha, David J. Gower
11. Cryptic diversity in European terrestrial flatworms of the genus Microplana (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Geoplanidae) Marta Álvarez-Presas, Eduardo Mateos, Ronald Sluys and Marta Riutort.

Subject Areas: Biodiversity [RNCB], Animal ecology [PSVS], Plant ecology [PSTS], Evolution [PSAJ], Taxonomy & systematics [PSAB]