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Issue: Vol. 4162 No. 3: 12 Sept. 2016
Type: Article
Published: 2016-09-12
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4162.3.10
Page range: 571–580
Abstract views: 78
PDF downloaded: 1

VARSEDIG: an algorithm for morphometric characters selection and statistical validation in morphological taxonomy

Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Vigo, 36310-Vigo, Spain
Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA
Departamento de Informática, Edificio Fundición, 26310-Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Departamento de Informática, Edificio Fundición, 26310-Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Departamento de Informática, Edificio Fundición, 26310-Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Informática, Edificio Politécnico s/n, Campus As Lagoas, Universidad de Vigo, 32004-Orense, Spain
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Vigo, 36310-Vigo, Spain
Grupo de Ictiología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
General Statistical method Fishes Morphological discrimination

Abstract

We present and discuss VARSEDIG, an algorithm which identifies the morphometric features that significantly discriminate two taxa and validates the morphological distinctness between them via a Monte-Carlo test. VARSEDIG is freely available as a function of the RWizard application PlotsR (http://www.ipez.es/RWizard) and as R package on CRAN. The variables selected by VARSEDIG with the overlap method were very similar to those selected by logistic regression and discriminant analysis, but overcomes some shortcomings of these methods. VARSEDIG is, therefore, a good alternative by comparison to current classical classification methods for identifying morphometric features that significantly discriminate a taxon and for validating its morphological distinctness from other taxa. As a demonstration of the potential of VARSEDIG for this purpose, we analyze morphological discrimination among some species of the Neotropical freshwater family Characidae.

 

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