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Discovering and documenting Acari: the first twenty years in Zootaxa
Zhi-Qiang Zhang1, Heinrich Schatz2, Tobias Pfingstl3
1Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, 231 Morrin Road, Auckland 1072, New Zealand. Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.. zhangz@landcareresearch.co.nz.
Zootaxa
|June 29, 2021
Summary
The journal Zootaxa is a leading source for discovering new mite and tick species, publishing over 3,000 new taxa and many new synonyms in acarology between 2001 and 2020.
Area of Science:
- * Acarology, Arachnology, Taxonomy, Biodiversity Research
Background:
- * Acari (mites and ticks) are a highly diverse arachnid group with an estimated vast number of undiscovered species.
- * Accurate and accessible taxonomic literature is crucial for understanding global arthropod diversity.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To evaluate the significance of the journal Zootaxa in the field of acarology.
- * To quantify Zootaxa's contribution to the description of new mite and tick taxa and synonyms over a 20-year period.
Main Methods:
- * Bibliometric analysis of papers published in Zootaxa from 2001 to 2020.
- * Data extraction on the number of new Acari taxa/names and synonyms described.
- * Comparison of Zootaxa's output with data from Zoological Record.
Main Results:
- * Zootaxa published 1305 papers on Acari by 1057 authors between 2001 and 2020.
- * 3271 new Acari taxa/names were described, representing 24.4% of the global total.
- * 334 new Acari synonyms were published, accounting for 24.9% of the global total.
Conclusions:
- * Zootaxa has been a pivotal journal for documenting mite and tick diversity.
- * The journal plays a leading role in global acarological research and taxonomic revisions.
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