Systematics is the study of biological diversity and its origins. It focuses on understanding evolutionary relationships among organisms, species, higher taxa, or other biological entities, such as genes, and the evolution of the properties of taxa including intrinsic traits, ecological interactions, and geographic distributions. An important part of systematics is the development of methods for various aspects of phylogenetic inference and biological nomenclature/classification.

The objective of the Society of Systematic Biologists is the advancement of the science of systematic biology in all its aspects of theory, principles, methodology, and practice, for both living and fossil organisms, with emphasis on areas of common interest to all systematic biologists regardless of individual specialization.

Books recently reviewed in Systematic Biology, or written by members of the Society.

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For matters regarding the Society please contact the Executive Vice President (currently David Hibbett dhibbett@clarku.edu).

The Encyclopedia of Life and twelve other biodiversity research organizations are co-sponsoring e-Biosphere 09 (http://www.e-biosphere09.org), an international conference that will take place in London on 1-3 June 2009. Biodiversity Informatics is a young field that is making diverse classes of biodiversity data available online and putting these data to work for science and society. The Conference will highlight the accomplishments, capabilities and uses of Biodiversity Informatics and will gather community input for a 5-10 year research roadmap.

The International Congress of Systematic and Evolutionary Biology (ICSEB) is convened approximately every six years, the last one having being held in Patras, Greece, in 2002. The scope of these congresses is to bring plant, animal, and microbial systematists and evolutionary biologists together to discuss and debate topics of general interest. The focus of this congress, in context of significant historical backdrop, is on modern and forward-looking ideas, concepts, and methods in systematic and evolutionary biology. Due to its location, a strong emphasis will also be placed on understanding biodiversity in Latin America.

For more details please visit http://www.botanik.univie.ac.at/ICSEB7/.

Traditional taxa that are non-monophyletic (paraphyletic or polyphyletic) on a molecular phylogenetic tree may be interpreted as surviving ancestors that are evolutionarily static in expressed traits but in isolation accumulate DNA changes used to track genetic continuity. In cases in which re-evolution (convergence) of such taxa from different ancestors is deemed improbable, non-monophyly may be used to infer evolutionary trees (or Besseyan cacti) of virtual fossils reflecting direct macroevolution. Non-monophyly may be evolutionarily informative at the taxon level in the same way synapomorphies are phylogenetically informative at the molecular level.

The journal Contributions to Zoology '.. since 1848 ..' solicits high-quality papers in all systematics-related branches of Zoology and Paleontology. Preference will be given to manuscripts dealing with conceptual issues and to integrative papers. Reviews and alpha-taxonomic contributions may be considered for publication, but acceptance will depend on their high quality and exceptional nature. The journal is published by the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis, Leiden and the Zoological Museum Amsterdam and is freely available online since 1997 at www.ctoz.nl.

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Data sets and supplementary material for articles this issue can be downloaded here. Files are (typically) in NEXUS, Word, or HTML formats. Note that the authors may also have deposited their data in GenBank and TreeBASE, or have additional data on their own web sites.
A Model-Based Approach to Study Nearest-Neighbor Influences Reveals Complex Substitution Patterns in Non-coding Sequences

The Department of Biological Sciences invites applications for Two Faculty Positions in Systematics and Evolution with an appointment date starting in September 2009. The first is the Robert Griggs Professor, a tenure-track Assistant or Associate professorship in Phylogenetic Biogeography/Co-evolution. For this position we seek a phylogeneticist who uses comparative data to study historical biogeography or interactions among species (for example, parasites and their hosts or herbivores and their host plants). The second position is the Louis Weintraub Professor, a tenure-track Assistant or Associate professorship in Molecular Systematics. For this position we seek a phylogeneticist who uses molecular data to address questions in phylogeny, systematics, and evolution. Successful candidates will have teaching and research interests which will expand and strengthen our department and the Weintraub Program in Systematics and Evolution (see www.gwu.edu/~clade) and be expected to develop an externally funded research program and participate in graduate and undergraduate education. Basic Qualifications: A completed Ph.D. in a relevant field andcommitment to scholarly research as evidenced by publications in scholarly journals and scholarly works in progress is required. Postdoctoral experience is preferred. To be considered at the associate professor level, the candidate must already be at that rank or have 7 years or more equivalent experience. Review of applications begins January 2, 2009 and will be ongoing until the position is filled.