New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy.

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.

Ectoparásitos de la perdiz chilena (nothoprocta perdicaria) en la provincia de Ñuble, Chile / Ectoparasites in chilean tinamou (Nothoprocta perdicaria) in Ñuble province, Chile

Entre Noviembre de 1994 y abril de 1995 en la provincia de Ñuble (Chile), se capturaron 51 ejemplares de perdiz chilena (Nothoprocta perdicaria), de los que se aislaron los siguientes ectoparásitos: Rhynchothura teres (92,2 por ciento) Heptapsogaster sp. (90,2 por ciento), Menacanthus nothoproctae (39,2 por ciento), Heptapsogaster testudo (19,6 por ciento), Allosathes sp. (80,4 por ciento), Amblyomma sp. (11,8 por ciento) y ácaros de la familia Trombiculidae (15,7 por ciento). Con excepción de R. teres, los restantes ectoparásitos diagnosticados representan el primer registro en la perdiz chilena.

Fauna parasitaria de la tórtola común (zenaida auriculata, de murs 1847) (columbiformes: columbidae) en Ñuble, Chile / Parasite-fauna of the eared dove (zenaida auriculata, de murs 1847) (columbiformes columbidae) in Ñuble, Chile

En la provincia de Ñuble (Chile), entre Noviembre de 1994 y abril de 1995, se examinaron 235 tórtolas (Zenaida auriculata) para detectar endo y ectoparásitos. Los siguientes endoparásitos fueron aislados (prevalencia en por ciento): Killigrewia delafondi (9,4 por ciento), Raillietina sp. (1,7 por ciento), Echinostoma sp. (0,9 por ciento), Heterakis gallinarum (0,4 por ciento) y Eimeria labbeana (5,5 por ciento). Los ectoparasitos identificados correspondieron a: Falculifer isodontus (55,7 por ciento), Diplaegidia columbae (73,2 por ciento), Amblyomma sp. (5,1), Columbicola baculoides (64,7 por ciento), Bonomiella sp. (8,5 por ciento), Hohorstiella sp. (4,7 por ciento) y ácaros de la familia Trombiculidae (6,8 por ciento). Ácaros de la familia Trombiculidae, el cestodo K. delafondi y el protozoo E. labbeana habían sido registrados previamente en Chile. Los otros nueve parásitos representan el primer registro para tórtolas en Chile.