Unexpected genetic diversity within species throughout
the tree of life prompts several questions about possible
regional and taxonomic biases in our estimates of diversity.
For example, are tropical biomes home to more cryptic
species than are temperate biomes? Do large, varied
groups such insects and fungi hide unknown numbers of
new species? Genetic diversity within a ‘species’ also impli-cates underappreciated mechanisms of morphologically
static cladogenesis (i.e. diversification of new species with-out morphological change). Moreover, misidentification of
medically and economically important species in cryptic
complexes [5–11] can have serious negative consequences
(e.g. in fisheries management and pest control), and impli-cations of cryptic species complexes for conservation
[12,13] are sobering.