Data from: Global biodiversity and the expanding Tree of Life

Global biodiversity is increasingly threatened, but still poorly known. Higher taxa (e.g. genera) may represent more phylogenetic diversity than species alone, and thus there has been increasing interest in halting their loss. Yet, we know little about the discovery of new clades. Here we analyze new clades across the Tree of Life. We estimate that >700 new genera, >20 new families, and >3 new orders are described each year, all based on new species discoveries. New genus-level clades are dominated by animals, reflecting current species richness. At higher ranks, new clades are largely microscopic and dominated by bacteria, fungi, and protists. The known Tree of Life is rapidly expanding, and discovering and describing these new clades before they disappear should be an urgent research priority.

全球生物多样性正面临日益严峻的威胁，但其相关认知仍极为匮乏。相较于仅以物种为研究单元，高级分类单元（higher taxa，如属（genera））所能体现的系统发育多样性（phylogenetic diversity）更为丰富，因此学界对遏制其消亡的关注度与日俱增。然而，人们对新演化支（clade）的发现情况仍知之甚少。本研究针对生命之树（Tree of Life）上的各类新演化支展开分析。经估算，每年均有逾700个新属、20余个新科以及3个以上新目被正式描述并发表，且所有此类新分类单元均基于新发现的物种而定名。新属级演化支以动物类群为主，这与当前动物物种的丰富度分布相契合。而在更高阶的分类层级中，新演化支大多为微生物类群，以细菌、真菌及原生生物（protists）为主。当前已被认知的生命之树正快速拓展，在这些新演化支灭绝前完成对它们的发现与正式描述，应成为亟需优先开展的核心研究任务。