Note
Prominent biologists have
stressed the urgent need for
systematics in conserving
biodiversity (e.g., Wilson 1989, May
1990, Anonymous 1991), and with
good reason. According to recent
estimates, between 69% and 96% of
extant species remain undescribed
(Lean et al. 1990, Systematics Agenda
2000 1994). If knowledge of Earth's
biota is so incomplete, it follows that
even the most basic kind of systematics
research, taxonomy-the inventory,
description, and classification
of organisms-is also far from finished.