| Range |
~360,000 described species
|
| Organism |
Insect |
| Reference |
Bouchard P et al., Family-group names in Coleoptera (Insecta). Zookeys. 2011 Apr 4(88):1-972. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.88.807. p.4 3rd paragraphPubMed ID21594053
|
| Primary Source |
Bouchard P, Grebennikov VV, Smith ABT, Douglas H (2009) Biodiversity of Coleoptera [pp. 265–301]. In: Foottit RG, Adler PH (Eds). Insect biodiversity: science and society. Black- well Publishing, Oxford, 656 pp, |
| Method |
Abstract: "[Investigators] synthesize data on all known extant and fossil Coleoptera family-group names for the first time. A catalogue of 4887 family-group names (124 fossil, 4763 extant) based on 4707 distinct genera in Coleoptera is given. A total of 4492 names are available, 183 of which are permanently invalid because they are based on a preoccupied or a suppressed type genus. Names are listed in a classification framework. [They] recognize as valid 24 superfamilies, 211 families, 541 subfamilies, 1663 tribes and 740 subtribes." |
| Comments |
P.4 3rd paragraph: "Coleoptera are currently the most species-rich group of organisms on this planet with approximately 360 000 described species (primary source). The great morphological diversity of beetles has led to the proliferation of suprageneric taxa at various ranks. Latreille (1797) was apparently the first to introduce the concept of family-level taxa (see Bock 1994: 244) but it is only a few years later (Latreille 1802) that he proposed available names for these groupings, including several in the order Coleoptera. More recent evidence suggests that available family-group names in some groups of animals other than Coleoptera (e.g., Chordata: Sauropsida) appeared in the late 18th Century (see Dubois and Bour 2010), even earlier than in Latreille (1802)." |
| Entered by |
Uri M |
| ID |
113121 |