How do scientists identify a new species?

The process of discovering new species is not as simple as people think. In the movie, a botanist pulled up a grass in the depths of a dense forest and shouted with ecstasy: "I found a new species!" " "This kind of plot does not exist. In most cases, scientists have to take them back to museums or specimen rooms and file them as "suspected new species"; Then a large number of documents must be searched in detail to ensure that no one has discovered this species before; Then go to different places to check and compare the recorded similar species, and even do some DNA analysis to judge the identity of this "suspected new species" and its genetic relationship with other species; Finally, after all this is confirmed, we can sit down and write a Latin description (20 12 can also be modified into English description) and publish a new species. The lost time is the "cupboard time" of various species.

This is really "coming out is risky and scientific research needs to be cautious"! The process is so complicated that many taxonomists stop at "taking it back to the specimen room for archiving and preservation". Therefore, museums are often full of species that need to be identified and analyzed. Ironically, because of this, invertebrates other than fungi and insects have a shorter shelf life than animals, plants and insects-they are not easy to preserve, but they cannot be identified after a long time. No matter how complicated the process is, it takes 2 1 year to publish a new species. This means that a taxonomist can only make three or four new species even if he is diligent and has a long life. There must be something fishy in this. Yes, there is another interesting finding in this study: the time spent by non-professional enthusiasts in the cupboard is much shorter than that of professional taxonomists, with an average of 15 years, which is a full third less.

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