Of Critters and Classification II

I have been reading Singing Whales and Flying Squid by Richard Ellis. The book is an examination of the discovery of marine life from ancient times to the present. One of the most intersting sections discussed a new system of classifying living beings.

Under the so-called "barcode" system, the current taxonomy system would be replaced by a specific DNA sequence that would serve as the marker for the species. Apparently, the barcode system has already been tested to differentiate between two hundred closely related butterfly species.

Among the benefits of the system:

• less chance of confusion caused by different life stages
• less possiblity of misinterpretting physical characteristics
• no need for taxonomists to have a "high level of expertise"

The scientists who are proposing the barcode system believe that a database that includes up to ten million animal species could be created within twenty years at a cost of about one billion dollars. In fact, there are already two initiatives aimed at barcoding bird and fish species by 2010.