Cowrie study strikes a blow for traditional taxonomy

A new technology called DNA barcoding, which is used to speed the identification of species, may not live up to earlier expectations. DNA barcoding involves collecting and comparing genetic sequences from many species. Some proponents believe that bypassing the slower techniques of traditional taxonomy will identify unknown species and categorize the world's biodiversity more quickly. However, new research has found that the technique is only effective in groups of organisms that have been well described and extensively studied. In species that have been less well studied the barcoding method misidentified unknown specimens up to 20% of the time.