Taxonomic inflation, the Phylogenetic Species Concept and lineages in the Tree of Life – a cautionary comment on species splitting
Graphical Abstract
All of these species have recently been split into two or more distinct species. This trend is due mainly to a shift in paradigm from the Biological Species Concept to the Phylogenetic Species Concept (PSC). While splitting may be warranted in many cases, this article argues that the PSC is a poor guide to species delimitation, particularly in its diagnosability version.