Tapeworms from Vertebrate Bowels of the Earth
This project is focused on the cestodes (or tapeworms), that, as adults, inhabit the digestive system (i.e., bowels) of all classes of vertebrates. It brings together 22 expert cestode taxonomists from 13 countries around the world to treat all orders and families of this class on a global scale. Whereas the current diversity of cestodes is estimated to be ~ 5,000 species, newly collected material, in combination with investigation of existing available undescribed taxa, is predicted to yield a total of ~1,600-1,700 new cestode species. These taxa will be formally described by this expert team in collaboration with post-doc, and graduate and undergraduate student participants. The reorganization of cestode orders (and in some instance families if necessary) will occur only if/when stability in the phylogenetic results has been obtained.