Kevin de Queiroz

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Kevin de Queiroz is a vertebrate, evolutionary, and systematic biologist. He has worked in the phylogenetics and evolutionary biology of squamate reptiles, the development of a unified species concept and of a phylogenetic approach to biological nomenclature, and the philosophy of systematic biology.

Contents

Early life and career

De Queiroz was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He received a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (1978), a M.S. in Zoology from San Diego State University (1985), and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley (1989). [1] He was a Tilton Postdoctoral Fellow at the California Academy of Sciences and is currently a Research Zoologist and a curator of the collection of Amphibians and Reptiles at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. [1] He is a former president of the Society of Systematic Biologists and was the first president of the International Society for Phylogenetic Nomenclature. [2] [3]

Research

Empirical research

De Queiroz’s research has focused primarily on the phylogeny and evolutionary biology of squamate reptiles, including his Master’s research on the phylogeny of iguanine lizards [4] and his Ph.D. research on the phylogeny of phrynosomatine sand lizards. [5] He worked with his mentors Richard Estes and Richard Etheridge on the phylogeny of Squamata [6] and Iguanidae, [7] respectively, and with Jacques Gauthier on the phylogeny of Lepidosauromorpha. [8] He conducted research, including several publications with Jonathan Losos, on the phylogeny and adaptive radiation of Anolis lizards. [9]

Theoretical research

De Queiroz also has interests in theoretical and conceptual topics in systematic and evolutionary biology. He published an article early in his career on the relationship between the sequence of ontogenetic transformations and phylogenetic inference. [10] Beginning in 1998, he published a series of articles proposing how to achieve a unified species concept and outlining several of its consequences. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] In collaboration with Jacques Gauthier and Philip Cantino, de Queiroz has published another series of articles proposing and defending an approach to biological nomenclature based on definitions that specify the meanings of taxon names in terms of clades and common ancestry as an alternative to traditional approaches that are based on taxonomic ranks. [16] [17] [18] [19] He is coauthor of a draft Phylogenetic Code of Biological Nomenclature (aka the PhyloCode) with Cantino. [20]

De Queiroz has published several articles on the history and philosophy of biology, related primarily, but not exclusively, to his own theoretical and conceptual contributions. He published a paper early in his career proposing that the Darwinian Revolution in systematic biology was not a sudden event but rather an extended process that is not yet completed. [21] He has examined Charles Darwin’s writings on species and argued that his own ideas about how to achieve a unified species concept represent the ongoing development of the evolutionary view of species articulated by Darwin. [22] He has examined the class versus individual interpretations of species and clades in light of his work on phylogenetic definitions of taxon names, proposing that contrary to how those interpretations are commonly presented, they are not mutually exclusive, which suggests that the same is true of ostensive and intensional definitions. [23] He has argued that the philosopher Karl Popper’s concept of degree of corroboration is analogous to the likelihood ratio of nested hypotheses and that in phylogenetics the probability of the evidence given the background knowledge in the absence of the hypothesis of interest (a critical component of Popper’s "Degree of Corroboration") is represented by the likelihood of a star tree. [24] [25]

Personal life

De Queiroz is married to Molly R. Morris, an evolutionary animal behaviorist and Professor of Biology at Ohio University. [26]

Related Research Articles

Cladistics is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics (synapomorphies) that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors. However, from an empirical perspective, common ancestors are inferences based on a cladistic hypothesis of relationships of taxa whose character states can be observed. Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade. Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade. For example, if the terms worms or fishes were used within a strict cladistic framework, these terms would include humans. Many of these terms are normally used paraphyletically, outside of cladistics, e.g. as a 'grade', which are fruitless to precisely delineate, especially when including extinct species. Radiation results in the generation of new subclades by bifurcation, but in practice sexual hybridization may blur very closely related groupings.

In biology, phylogenetics is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups of organisms. These relationships are determined by phylogenetic inference methods that focus on observed heritable traits, such as DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, or morphology. The result of such an analysis is a phylogenetic tree—a diagram containing a hypothesis of relationships that reflects the evolutionary history of a group of organisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paraphyly</span> Type of taxonomic group

Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, but excludes one or more subgroups. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic with respect to the excluded subgroups. In contrast, a monophyletic grouping includes a common ancestor and all of its descendants.

In biology, taxonomy is the scientific study of naming, defining (circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa and these groups are given a taxonomic rank; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, as he developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taxon</span> Grouping of biological populations

In biology, a taxon is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion, especially in the context of rank-based ("Linnaean") nomenclature. If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iguanidae</span> Family of lizards

The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibamidae</span> Family of lizards

Dibamidae or blind skinks is a family of lizards characterized by their elongated cylindrical body and an apparent lack of limbs. Female dibamids are entirely limbless and the males retain small flap-like hind limbs, which they use to grip their partner during mating. They have a rigidly fused skull, lack pterygoid teeth and external ears. Their eyes are greatly reduced, and covered with a scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varanidae</span> Family of lizards

The Varanidae are a family of lizards in the superfamily Varanoidea and order Anguimorpha. The family, a group of carnivorous and frugivorous lizards, includes the living genus Varanus and a number of extinct genera more closely related to Varanus than to the earless monitor lizard (Lanthanotus). Varanus includes the Komodo dragon, crocodile monitor, savannah monitor, the goannas of Australia and Southeast Asia, and various other species with a similarly distinctive appearance. Their closest living relatives are the earless monitor lizard and chinese crocodile lizard. The oldest members of the family are known from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.

The spiny weapontail is a species of lizard belonging to the monotypic genus Hoplocercus in the family Hoplocercidae. The species is found in the Cerrado and adjacent Cerrado–Amazon mosaics in Brazil and Bolivia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sauropsida</span> Taxonomic clade

Sauropsida is a clade of amniotes, broadly equivalent to the class Reptilia, though typically used in a broader sense to include extinct stem-group relatives of modern reptiles. The most popular definition states that Sauropsida is the sister taxon to Synapsida, the other clade of amniotes which includes mammals as its only modern representatives. Although early synapsids have historically been referred to as "mammal-like reptiles", all synapsids are more closely related to mammals than to any modern reptile. Sauropsids, on the other hand, include all amniotes more closely related to modern reptiles than to mammals. This includes Aves (birds), which are now recognized as a subgroup of archosaurian reptiles despite originally being named as a separate class in Linnaean taxonomy.

The International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature, known as the PhyloCode for short, is a formal set of rules governing phylogenetic nomenclature. Its current version is specifically designed to regulate the naming of clades, leaving the governance of species names up to the rank-based nomenclature codes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archosauriformes</span> Clade of reptiles

Archosauriformes is a clade of diapsid reptiles encompassing archosaurs and some of their close relatives. It was defined by Jacques Gauthier (1994) as the clade stemming from the last common ancestor of Proterosuchidae and Archosauria. Phil Senter (2005) defined it as the most exclusive clade containing Proterosuchus and Archosauria. Archosauriforms are a branch of archosauromorphs which originated in the Late Permian and persist to the present day as the two surviving archosaur groups: crocodilians and birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lepidosauromorpha</span> Clade of reptiles

Lepidosauromorpha is a group of reptiles comprising all diapsids closer to lizards than to archosaurs. The only living sub-group is the Lepidosauria, which contains two subdivisions, Squamata, which contains lizards and snakes, and Rhynchocephalia, the only extant species of which is the tuatara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolutionary grade</span> Non-monophyletic grouping of organisms united by morphological or physiological characteristics

A grade is a taxon united by a level of morphological or physiological complexity. The term was coined by British biologist Julian Huxley, to contrast with clade, a strictly phylogenetic unit.

Jacques Armand Gauthier is an American vertebrate paleontologist, comparative morphologist, and systematist, and one of the founders of the use of cladistics in biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pterodactyloidea</span> Suborder of monofenestratan pterosaurs

Pterodactyloidea is one of the two traditional suborders of pterosaurs, and contains the most derived members of this group of flying reptiles. They appeared during the middle Jurassic Period, and differ from the basal rhamphorhynchoids by their short tails and long wing metacarpals. The most advanced forms also lack teeth, and by the late Cretaceous, all known pterodactyloids were toothless. Many species had well-developed crests on the skull, a form of display taken to extremes in giant-crested forms like Nyctosaurus and Tupandactylus. Pterodactyloids were the last surviving pterosaurs when the order became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period, together with the non-avian dinosaurs and most marine reptiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varanoidea</span> Superfamily of reptiles

Varanoidea is a superfamily of lizards, including the well-known family Varanidae. Also included in the Varanoidea are the Lanthanotidae, and the extinct Palaeovaranidae.

Phylogenetic nomenclature is a method of nomenclature for taxa in biology that uses phylogenetic definitions for taxon names as explained below. This contrasts with the traditional approach, in which taxon names are defined by a type, which can be a specimen or a taxon of lower rank, and a description in words. Phylogenetic nomenclature is currently regulated by the International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature (PhyloCode).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eublepharidae</span> Family of lizards

The Eublepharidae are a family of geckos (Gekkota) consisting of 43 described species in six genera. They occur in Asia, Africa, North America, and Central America. Eublepharid geckos lack adhesive toepads and, unlike other geckos, have movable eyelids, thus commonly called eyelid geckos. Like other members of Gekkota, the Eublepharidae exhibits tail autotomy due to the fracture planes near their vent. A new tail will then grow in its place, usually lacking the original color and texture. The muscles in the old tail will continue to flex for up to 30 minutes after the drop to distract predators. Leopard geckos and African fat-tailed geckos are popular pet lizards.

In biology, a species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour, or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kevin de Queiroz, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, NMNH".
  2. "List of Past Presidents - Society of Systematic Biologists". Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2020-02-16.
  3. Laurin, Michel; Cantino, Philip D. (1 September 2004). "First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting: a report". Zoologica Scripta. 33 (5): 475–479. doi:10.1111/j.0300-3256.2004.00176.x. S2CID   86552807.
  4. Details - Phylogenetic systematics of iguanine lizards : a comparative osteological study / by Kevin de Queiroz. - Biodiversity Heritage Library. University of California Press. 1987. ISBN   9780520097308.
  5. "Kevin de Queiroz Publications, Division of Amphibians & Reptiles, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, NMNH".
  6. Estes, R., K. de Queiroz, and J. A. Gauthier. (1988) “Phylogenetic relationships within Squamata.” Pp. 119-281 in ‘’Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families’’, R. Estes and G. Pregill (eds.), Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, California.
  7. Etheridge, R., and K. de Queiroz. (1988) “A phylogeny of Iguanidae.” Pp. 283-367 in “Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families”, R. Estes and G. Pregill (eds.), Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, California.
  8. Gauthier, J. A., R. Estes, and K. de Queiroz. (1988) “A phylogenetic analysis of Lepidosauromorpha.” Pp. 15-98 in “Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families,” R. Estes and G. Pregill (eds.), Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, California.
  9. "Publications - Losos Laboratory".
  10. De Queiroz, Kevin (1 January 1985). "The Ontogenetic Method for Determining Character Polarity and its Relevance to Phylogenetic Systematics". Systematic Zoology. 34 (3): 280–299. doi:10.2307/2413148. JSTOR   2413148.
  11. de Queiroz, K. (1998) “The general lineage concept of species, species criteria, and the process of speciation: A conceptual unification and terminological recommendations.” Pp. 57–75 (Chapter 5) in “Endless Forms: Species and Speciation,” D. J. Howard and S. H. Berlocher (eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.
  12. "de Queiroz, K. (1999) "The general lineage concept of species and the defining properties of the species category." Pp. 49–89 (Chapter 3) in "Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays," R. A. Wilson (ed.). MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts" (PDF).
  13. Queiroz, Kevin de (3 May 2005). "Ernst Mayr and the modern concept of species". PNAS. 102 (suppl 1): 6600–6607. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.6600D. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0502030102 . PMC   1131873 . PMID   15851674.
  14. de Queiroz, K. (2005) “A unified species concept and its consequences for the future of taxonomy.” Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 56 (suppl. 1) (18):196–215.
  15. Queiroz, Kevin De (1 December 2007). "Species Concepts and Species Delimitation". Syst Biol. 56 (6): 879–886. doi: 10.1080/10635150701701083 . PMID   18027281 via sysbio.oxfordjournals.org.
  16. Queiroz, Kevin de; Gauthier, Jacques (1 December 1990). "Phylogeny as a Central Principle in Taxonomy: Phylogenetic Definitions of Taxon Names". Syst Biol. 39 (4): 307–322. doi:10.2307/2992353. JSTOR   2992353 via sysbio.oxfordjournals.org.
  17. Queiroz, Kevin de; Gauthier, Jacques (1 January 1992). "Phylogenetic Taxonomy". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 23 (1): 449–480. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.23.110192.002313.
  18. de Queiroz, K., and J. Gauthier. (1994) “Toward a phylogenetic system of biological nomenclature.” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9(1):27–31.
  19. Nomenclature., Intl Commission on Zoological (1 January 1943). "The Bulletin of zoological nomenclature". v.58:pt.1-4 (2001:Mar.-Dec.). International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. Queiroz, Philip D. Cantino, Kevin de. "The PhyloCode".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. de Queiroz, Kevin (1 January 1988). "Systematics and the Darwinian Revolution". Philosophy of Science. 55 (2): 238–259. doi:10.1086/289430. JSTOR   187961. S2CID   224830987.
  22. De Queiroz, Kevin (1 May 2011). "Branches in the lines of descent: Charles Darwin and the evolution of the species concept". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 103 (1): 19–35. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01634.x .
  23. de Queiroz, K (1992). "Phylogenetic definitions and taxonomic philosophy". Biology and Philosophy. 7 (3): 295–313. doi:10.1007/BF00129972. S2CID   36728162.
  24. Queiroz, Kevin de (1 September 2004). "The measurement of test severity, significance tests for resolution, and a unified philosophy of phylogenetic inference". Zoologica Scripta. 33 (5): 463–473. doi:10.1111/j.0300-3256.2004.00160.x. S2CID   85933642.
  25. Queiroz, Kevin de (1 November 2014). "Popperian Corroboration and Phylogenetics". Syst Biol. 63 (6): 1018–1022. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/syu064 . PMID   25151624 via sysbio.oxfordjournals.org.
  26. "Molly R. Morris, Professor". Archived from the original on 2016-06-07. Retrieved 2016-06-12.