title: The taxonomic status of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806).
abstract: The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu stricto, is a species with considerable public health and economic importance. However, the taxonomic status of this species is far from resolved. After more than 110 years of scientific work on R. sanguineus s.s., the situation is that there is no type, no solid description, nor is there a consensus about the range of morphological variability within the species. Recent findings based on laboratory crosses and molecular genetics strongly suggest that there are several entities grouped under the same name. Here we review the history of the taxon, and we point out the caveats behind any further work on this tick. The current taxonomic status of R. sanguineus s.s. thus lacks an informative original description, and is based on the existence of several morphological descriptions based on ticks originating from different populations, which show, in some cases, biological incompatibility and significant genetic divergence. We suggests that as a result it is not possible to assign the specific name R. sanguineus s.s. to any population. Further work is required based on the rules issued by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to clearly define the morphological range of the different populations.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CC 22, CP 2300 Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina. Electronic address: nava.santiago@inta.gob.ar.
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nava
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Patología Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza, Miguel Servet 177, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Estrada-Peña
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Parasitology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kornblumenstrasse 13, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Petney
authors.affiliation: United States National Tick Collection, Institute for Coastal Plain Science, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beati
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Av. Prof. Orlando M. de Paiva 87, 05508-900 São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Labruna
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidade Federal de Uberlandia, Av. Pará 1720, Campus Umuarama-Bloco 2T, 38400-902 Uberlandia, MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Matias P J
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Szabó
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitología Veterinaria, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, Regional Norte-Sede Salto, Rivera 1350, CP 50000 Salto, Uruguay.
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Venzal
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Kreder 2805, CP 3080 Esperanza, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mastropaolo
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CC 22, CP 2300 Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Atilio J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mangold
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CC 22, CP 2300 Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors.forename: Alberto A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Guglielmone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002965:Classification; D048508:Rhipicephalus sanguineus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: Description; Neotype; Rhipicephalus sanguineus; Taxonomic status; Type specimens