365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Monday, March 16, 2020
Placopsis Let's-Call-It Lambii
Day 155: There is a good bit of debate over whether this particular Placopsis lichen should be P. gelida or P. lambii. Some sources claim that P. gelida has not been found in Washington, and that herbarium records labelled as such are actually misidentifications of P. lambii. Others will tell you that P. gelida is the most common species of Bull's-eye Lichen from Alaska to California. Who do you believe? And why can't they nail it down? The simple answer (and trust me, the alternative is much more complex) is that sufficient genetic analysis of the samples has not been done. Gene sequencing is a fairly new tool for the lichenologist's toy box, and obviously, there's a substantial backlog of research to be done. As lichen DNA is examined, we are having to split genera, create new taxonomy, and to reevaluate what we thought we knew. Science is not a static field (no pun intended, but I'll leave it there for your enjoyment). It is always changing, always evolving as technology progresses and allows us to take a closer look.
Labels:
genetics,
Placopsis gelida,
Placopsis lambii,
taxonomy
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