title: DNA barcoding and the mediocrity of morphology.
abstract: A small but vocal community of critics has questioned the epistemological value of DNA barcoding by suggesting that either it 'cannot work' for the identification or discovery of species or that it ignores the 'richness' inherent in traditional approaches. We re-examine these arguments through a comparison of DNA barcoding and morphological taxonomy in terms of their accuracy and diversity of characters employed. We conclude that morphology often does not work and that it is often nowhere near as 'rich' as has been argued. Morphology is particularly poor in numerous important situations, such as the association of larvae with adults and discrimination among cryptic species. The vehemence of some of the criticisms is surprising given that morphology alone is known to be inadequate to the task of species-level identification in many instances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Packer
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.forename: Cory
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sheffield
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hanner