The Bold Hypotheses of Joe Collins From The Center for North American Herpetology Lawrence, Kansas http://www.cnah.org CNAH ANNOUNCEMENT Thursday, July 03, 2014 1:25:58 PM
(Editor of HerpDigest's note- Joe Collins ideas have been controversial since he first published them. I have not had a chance to read this paper, so I can't comment on it. Get it make up your own mind.) In 1991 Joseph T. Collins (Herpetological Review 22(2):42-43.) applied statements made by Frost and Hillis (1990 Herpetologica 46:87-104.) and elevated to species some 55 allopatric subspecies based on the Evolutionary Species Concept (of Wiley (1978 Systematic Zoology 27:17-26)). Collins' hypotheses stimulated much debate and along with the subsequent rebuttals, became standard reading in most herpetological and systematics graduate seminars. Dr. Brian Crother, in the most recent Herpetoglogical Review (2014 45(2):268-272), reexamines Collins (1991) by determining our current taxonomic understanding for those 55 taxa. He found that of the 40 hypotheses in Collins (1991), only 11 have been falsified in the intervening 23 years. In addition to identifying Collins¨insight, Crother (2014) also points out that the interest generated by Collins (1991) furthered the burgeoning field of herpetolgical systematics, prompted a great many researchers to challenge and test his hypotheses, and advanced the dialog on the relevance of subspecies. But, perhaps most importantly, Collins¨viewpoint progressed our knowledge of biodiversity by being bold and pushing his proposals, in spite of the significant risks of refutation. Those hypotheses of Collins (1991) yet to be tested or that could neither be rejected nor supported are listed below: Ambystoma croceum Pseudotriton diastictus Lithobates maslini Scaphiopus hurteri Aspidoscelis xanthonotus Plestiodon obtusirostris Holbrookia subcaudalis Ophisaurus longicaudus Arizona occidentalis Carphophis vermis Cemophora lineri
