Taylor & Francis Prize 2011

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Taylor & Francis Prize 2011 Version of record first published: 27 Jun 2012

To cite this article: (2012): Taylor & Francis Prize 2011, Systematics and Biodiversity, 10:2, 127-132 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2012.692506

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Systematics and Biodiversity (2012), 10(2): 127–132

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Taylor & Francis Prize 2011 It is a great pleasure for me to announce the winners of the Taylor & Francis Prize for the most outstanding paper published in Systematics and Biodiversity during 2011. The winners are Stefan L¨otters, Arie van der Meijden, Luis A. Coloma, Renaud Boistel, Peter Cloetens, Raffael Ernst, Edgar Lehr and Michael Veith for their paper: Assessing the molecular phylogeny of a near extinct group of vertebrates: the Neotropical harlequin frogs (Bufonidae; Atelopus). Systematics and Biodiversity 9, 45–57.

The Taylor & Francis Prize is awarded annually for the most outstanding paper published in Systematics and Biodiversity and is based on scientific significance and originality. The Prize consists of a cash award of £500 and a commemorative certificate for each author. The Associate Editors of Systematics and Biodiversity were asked to nominate papers and the most nominated papers (9) were then evaluated by the Editorial Board of Systematics and Biodiversity.

For 2011, Systematics and Biodiversity had an Impact Factor of 1.692 and the journal is ranked 13/33 or the upper 39% in the JCR category: Biodiversity and Conservation (©Thomson Reuters). The five-year Impact Factor is 2.009 and the journal is ranked in the upper 36% of the JCR category. Manuscript submissions are welcome and received at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tsab Elliot Shubert, Editor-in-Chief, Systematics and Biodiversity The Natural History Museum, London, UK E-mail: e.shubert@nhm.ac.uk Author’s profiles ¨ STEFAN LOTTERS Assistant Professor, Biogeography, Trier University, Trier, Germany

ISSN 1477-2000 print / 1478-0933 online

C 2012 The Natural History Museum http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2012.692506

Stefan’s research interests encompass macroecology, evolution and systematics. Much of his work is dedicated to Afrotropical and Neotropical amphibians and partly linked to conservation. After research postdoctorates at Mainz and Amsterdam Universities, he obtained his current position at Trier University where he runs his own group with a particular focus on species and niche evolution as well as past and future distributions of biota. Current research projects aim at explaining diversity patterns and speciation of amphibians in the upper Amazon Basin (including harlequin frogs) and in Central Africa as well as on niche overlap in parapatric salamanders from Europe. He is currently the Vice President of the German Herpetological Society (DGHT) and member of the International Herpetological Committee (World Congress of Herpetology). Past activities include his contributions to the IUCN Amphibian Conservation Action Plan.

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ARIE VAN DER MEIJDEN Postdoctoral researcher, CIBIO, Centro de Investigac¸a˜ o em Biodiversidade e Recursos Gen´eticos, Vair˜ao, Portugal

LUIS A. COLOMA Director, Centro Jambatu for Research and Conservation of Amphibians (Otonga Foundation), Quito, Ecuador

Arie’s research is focused on molecular phylogenetics, functional morphology and evolution. After his Ph.D. on African ranoid frogs, he took postdoctorates at the University of Amsterdam, University of Trier and currently at CIBIO. Arie is an active member of Sahonagsy.org, a website dedicated to amphibian conservation in Madagascar; a member of the International Herpetological Committee (World Congress of Herpetology); and helped initiate AmphibiaWeb.org as a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. Although still working on frog phylogenetics and biogeography, he has added comparative functional morphology of scorpions to his research interests.

Luis gained his Ph.D. in Systematics and Ecology from the University of Kansas. He leads an initiative with the objective to protect endangered Ecuadorian amphibians guided by a strategic plan for research and conservation.

This includes the ‘Arca de los Sapos’ programme for ex situ management of endangered amphibians. He is also the leader of AnfibiosWebEcuador, a free access Electronic encyclopaedia. Luis conducts research on taxonomy, morphology, evolution, behaviour, natural history, reproduction and the decline of amphibians. He has published over 40 scientific articles, several outreach papers and photography books. Luis was the organizer of Sapari, a public exhibit of live amphibians, which was a remarkable success in Ecuador in 2005. In 2007, he was the winner of the Sabin Award for Amphibian Conservation, provided by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Conservation International. In 2008, he was awarded the Saint Louis Conservation Award in recognition of his outstanding lifelong commitment to conservation of biodiversity in Ecuador. In 2009, he was appointed a member of the Academy of Sciences of Latin America.

Taylor & Francis Prize 2011

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RENAUD BOISTEL Engineer of Research at CNRS in 3D imaging, IPHEP UMR 7262, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France

Renaud completed his Ph.D. thesis in bioacoustics at Orsay University in 2007. He conducted postdoctoral research on vestibular adaptations related to locomotion at the Mus´eum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. In 2010, he was appointed research engineer at Poitiers University.

His research now focuses on extant and extinct species’ sensory systems evolution and on 3D imaging methods (X-ray microtomography and MRI). By combining a variety of experimental approaches and techniques (e.g. Xray microtomography, microscopy MRI, high-speed video and cineradiographic recordings, biomechanical modelling, etc.) in an explicit comparative framework, he has brought very interesting insights into the evolution of the auditory/equilibrium systems in vertebrates.

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PETER CLOETENS Research Scientist, Tomography Data Processing and Management, X-Ray Imaging Group, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France

Peter pioneered several X-ray microscopy methods, including propagation-based phase-contrast X-ray imaging, synchrotron-based tomography and nano-focus scanning microscopy (∼140 publications). He is in charge of the nano-imaging station ID22NI at the ESRF, a high-flux nanoprobe for magnified phase contrast imaging and scanning microscopy. His research applications focus on soft condensed matter and sub-cellular imaging. He is currently project leader of the ESRF Upgrade Beamline for NanoImaging and Nano-Analysis (UPBL04 NINA).

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RAFFAEL ERNST Curator of Herpetology, Museum of Zoology (Museum f¨ur Tierkunde), Senckenberg Natural History, Dresden, Germany

Raffael’s research focuses on the origin, maintenance and consequences of biological diversity at different levels (species, beta and functional diversity) both within and between local communities and across different spatial, habitat and disturbance gradients. Because the identification of development objectives such as the mitigation of biodiversity loss or the sustainable management of forest systems lie at the heart of many of these studies, his research seeks to combine the development of ecological concepts, models and methods and their application in the management of natural and altered habitats in an effort to improve strategies for the conservation of the biodiversity contained therein.

EDGAR LEHR Assistant Professor of Biology, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, USA

Edgar carried out postdoctoral research at the Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center at the University of Kansas from 2005–2007 and worked as a curator of Herpetology at the Natural History Collections Dresden prior to accepting his current position. His research addresses questions at the organism level and includes taxonomy, comparative anatomy, systematic revisions, phylogenetic studies, ecology and studies of biogeography and conservation. His expertise is with the Neotropical herpetofauna. Since 2001, he has concentrated on the exploration of montane forests and high Andean habitats in Peru. He has published 94 peer-reviewed papers and two books. His professional activities in the herpetological community include serving as associate editor for SSAR and DGHT since 2007, serving as an International Herpetological Committee member of the World Congress of Herpetology, and reviewing manuscripts for various conservation, herpetological and zoological journals.

Taylor & Francis Prize 2011

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MICHAEL VEITH Professor, Biogeography, Trier University, Trier, Germany

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Michael’s major fields of research are ecology and evolution, with a strong emphasis towards conservation aspects.

Major model groups are European amphibians and bats. He completed his Ph.D. on the systematics of salamanders at the University of Mainz, where he also conducted postdoctoral research on the effect of landscape fragmentation on the genetic structure of animal populations. He worked as a research associate at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Later, he taught animal ecology at StuttgartHohenheim and again at the University of Mainz, before he became Chair of Animal Systematics and Zoogeography at the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) at Amsterdam. Most recently, he became Chair of Biogeography at Trier.

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Importance of the outstanding paper1 ¨ STEFAN LOTTERS, ARIE VAN DER MEIJDEN, LUIS A. COLOMA, RENAUD BOISTEL, PETER CLOETENS, RAFFAEL ERNST, EDGAR LEHR & MICHAEL VEITH. 2011. Assessing the molecular phylogeny of a near extinct group of vertebrates: the Neotropical harlequin frogs (Bufonidae; Atelopus). Systematics and Biodiversity 9, 45–57.

This paper is important not only because it deals with a complex group in which species identities and relationships are difficult to assess, but because it draws attention to the importance of systematic studies in groups that are rapidly approaching extinction, and is consequently a ‘wake-up call’ to systematists working on other animal and plant groups facing extinction.

Well written and well rounded study of a group of interesting Neotropical frogs that are near extinction. I liked the presentation of molecular phylogenetic relationships, morphology and biogeography – with interesting findings. I think any reader could follow this paper.

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An interesting study conducted on an endangered group of amphibians, where colour pattern is not a good guide to relatedness.

Elliot Shubert, Editor-in-Chief, Systematics and Biodiversity 1Excerpts

from selected comments made by members of the editorial team.