QUANTIFYING ANALYTICAL VARIATION IN SPECIES DELIMINATION
A multi-investigator assessment of species delimitation practices

Why are we doing this?

Species delimitation lies at the heart of evolutionary biology, systematics, and conservation. Yet speciation is a continuous process, meaning that species boundaries are often subjective. We invite the evolutionary biology community to participate in a collaborative experiment examining how analytical choices and interpretation influence species delimitation. Our goal is not to identify a single correct answer, but to quantify variation among researchers and explore its implications.

This project is NOT

- A competition among methods

- An attempt to identify the 'best' workflow

- An evaluation of individual researchers

Instead, this project aims to

- Quantify variation in analytical decisions

- Explore how interpretation influences biological inference

- Discuss implications for evolution, taxonomy, and conservation

Project workflow

Phase I – Blind species delimitation

- Receive a blinded genomic dataset in several formats.

- Analyze the data using your preferred methods.

- Determine the number of species and assign individuals.

- Submit results within approximately three months.

Phase II – Revisiting your conclusions

- Receive additional taxonomic, phenotypic, and geographic information.

- Keep or revise your conclusions based on the new evidence.

- Submit your final interpretation within approximately two months.

Ground rules

- Work independently (labs should submit one joint analysis).

- Do not discuss analyses with other participating groups.

- Contact us with questions rather than other participants.

Optional call for datasets

We are also seeking empirical datasets for this project. Ideal datasets:

- Contain genomic data suitable for species delimitation.

- Include independent ecological, morphological, or geographic information.

- Represent challenging evolutionary scenarios (e.g., introgression, hybridization, recent divergence).

- Are unpublished or only partially analyzed.

Why participate?

- Contribute to a unique community-wide experiment.

- Help improve understanding of species delimitation practices.

- Be invited to join the resulting manuscript as a co-author.

The concept has received encouraging feedback from the editors of Systematic Biology, who considered it a timely and worthwhile research direction.
Interested in participating?

Participation form:
https://forms.gle/Cz7jf4N5BZw2N2LG9

Call for datasets:
https://forms.gle/vPN75k4yyH84cbdW8

Contacts

Bhuwan Singh Bist
PhD Candidate, Jezkova Lab
bistbs@miamioh.edu

Dr. Tereza Jezkova
Associate Professor of Biology
Miami University
jezkovt@miamioh.edu

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