Placozoan Taxonomy

在资助的头三年，我们已经表明，形式上的单一类群Placo zoa(唯一有效的物种是Trichoplax adhaerens)至少有22个不同的谱系(单倍型)，它们在遗传、形态和生态上都是完全分开的。因此，我们建立了21个新的物种假设，并用综合动态圈方法对其进行了严格的检验。对于后者，我们从各种分子和生物特征中收集尽可能多的信息。初步数据表明，22个单倍型之间存在较深的分枝模式，存在几个较高的分类支系。因此，悬铃虫门迫切需要进行严格的分类修订。这为我们提供了一个完全独特的机会，以这个门为例，探索使用Linneean(基于排名)原则的分类的经典方法，以及另一种新提出的(但仍有争议的)分类方法，称为PhyloCode。完成数据收集并进行系统分析，预计将揭示多达21个新的胎盘动物物种，以及一个真正新的普拉科动物门的分类学。

In the first three years of funding we have shown that the formally monotypic phylum Placozoa (the only valid species being Trichoplax adhaerens) harbors at least 22 distinct lineages (haplotypes), which are genetically, morphologically and ecologically well separated. Thus we have erected 21 new species hypotheses, which we rigorously test by an integrative dynamic circle approach. For the latter we collect as much information as possible from a variety of molecular and organismal characters. The preliminary data suggest deep branching patterns between the 22 haplotypes and the existence of several higher taxonomic clades. Thus the phylum Placozoa is in dire need for a rigorous taxonomic revision. This provides us with the completely unique opportunity to use this phylum as a tabula rasa example to explore classical approaches to taxonomy using Linnaean (rank based) principles and another newly proposed (and yet controversial) approach to taxonomy called the Phylocode. Finishing up data collection and performing the systematic analyses is expected to reveal up to 21 new placozoan species and a genuinely new taxonomy for the phylum Placozoa.