| 1. |
- Beimforde, Christina, et al.
(author)
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Estimating the Phanerozoic history of the Ascomycota lineages: Combining fossil and molecular data
- 2014
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In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; :78, s. 386-398
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The phylum Ascomycota is by far the largest group in the fungal kingdom. Ecologically important mutualisticassociations such as mycorrhizae and lichens have evolved in this group, which are regarded as keyinnovations that supported the evolution of land plants. Only a few attempts have been made to date theorigin of Ascomycota lineages by using molecular clock methods, which is primarily due to the lack ofsatisfactory fossil calibration data. For this reason we have evaluated all of the oldest available ascomycetefossils from amber (Albian to Miocene) and chert (Devonian and Maastrichtian). The fossils representfive major ascomycete classes (Coniocybomycetes, Dothideomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, Laboulbeniomycetes,and Lecanoromycetes). We have assembled a multi-gene data set (18SrDNA, 28SrDNA, RPB1 andRPB2) from a total of 145 taxa representing most groups of the Ascomycota and utilized fossil calibrationpoints solely from within the ascomycetes to estimate divergence times of Ascomycota lineages with aBayesian approach. Our results suggest an initial diversification of the Pezizomycotina in the Ordovician,followed by repeated splits of lineages throughout the Phanerozoic, and indicate that this continuousdiversification was unaffected by mass extinctions. We suggest that the ecological diversity within eachlineage ensured that at least some taxa of each group were able to survive global crises and rapidlyrecovered.
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| 2. |
- Loizides, Michael, et al.
(author)
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Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics
- 2022
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In: Mycological progress. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1617-416X .- 1861-8952. ; 21:1, s. 7-38
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The genus Morchella has gone through turbulent taxonomic treatments. Although significant progress in Morchella systematics has been achieved in the past decade, several problems remain unresolved and taxonomy in the genus is still in flux. In late 2019, a paper published in the open-access journal Scientific Reports raised serious concerns about the taxonomic stability of the genus, but also about the future of academic publishing. The paper, entitled “High diversity of Morchella and a novel lineage of the esculenta clade from the north Qinling Mountains revealed by GCPSR-based study” by Phanpadith and colleagues, suffered from gross methodological errors, included false results and artifactual phylogenies, had misapplied citations throughout, and proposed a new species name invalidly. Although the paper was eventually retracted by Scientific Reports in 2021, the fact that such an overtly flawed and scientifically unsound paper was published in a high-ranked Q1 journal raises alarming questions about quality controls and safekeeping procedures in scholarly publishing. Using this paper as a case study, we provide a critical review on the pitfalls of Morchella systematics followed by a series of recommendations for the delimitation of species, description of taxa, and ultimately for a sustainable taxonomy in Morchella. Problems and loopholes in the academic publishing system are also identified and discussed, and additional quality controls in the pre- and post-publication stages are proposed.
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