Dr John Taylor
Scientific Associate - Invertebrates
Division: LS Invertebrates Division
Summary
My research is focused on three main areas - the biology, systematics and evolution of chemosymbiotic bivalve molluscs - the phylogeny of heterodont bivalves and electron microscopy of mineralized structures in bivalves. Chemosymbiosis between bivalve molluscs and sulphide and/or methane oxidising bacteria held in the gills is known from six different bivalve families. Of these, Lucinidae are by far the most diverse and abundant, living in a wide range of habitats from the intertidal zone to depths of 2500 metres. Recent projects with colleague Emily Glover have documented the Lucinidae species of the Philippines and Singapore and with Suzanne Williams we have developed a new molecular phylogeny and classification of the Lucinidae. Ongoing projects concern diversity and systematics of the Lucinidae of Guadeloupe and a reassessment of the western Atlantic fauna with the recognition of complexes of morphologically similar species. In a broader context we are developing a new molecular phylogeny of heterodont bivalves to help tease apart evolutionary relationships in this the most speciose and disparate subclass of bivalves. Continuing studies of shell microstructure have revealed a diversity of crystalline structures in the periostracum of several unrelated bivalve families. In collaboration with Elizabeth Harper (University of Cambridge) we are resurveying microstructural characters throughout the Bivalvia and exploring how these can be used in phylogenetic analysis.
Qualifications
- PhD, King's College, University of London, UK, 1982 - 1966
- BSc, King's College, London University, United Kingdom, 1959 - 1962
Degrees
Employment history
- Scientific Associate, NHM, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2001 - ongoing
- Researcher, NHM, Palaeontology/Zoology/Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 1965 - 2001
Academic
Grants
Molecular phylogeny and evolutionary divergence of Lucinidae, the largest family of chemoautotrophic molluscs
Role: Principal investigator
Co-investigator: Williams S
Funding: NERC
Total value £18,799 (to Museum £18,799)
Dates: 2003 - 2004
Other projects
Molluscan deep-sea diversity
Role: Leader
Funding: Museum development
Publications
Williams ST, Foster PG, Hughes C, Harper EM, Taylor JD, Littlewood DTJ, Dyal P, Hopkins KP, Briscoe AG (2017) Curious bivalves: Systematic utility and unusual properties of anomalodesmatan mitochondrial genomes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 110 : 60 - 72. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.004
Combosch DJ, Collins TM, Glover EA, Graf DL, Harper EM, Healy JM, Kawauchi GY, Lemer S, McIntyre E, Strong EE, Taylor JD, Zardus JD, Mikkelsen PM, Giribet G, Bieler R (2017) A family-level Tree of Life for bivalves based on a Sanger-sequencing approach. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 107 : 191 - 208. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.11.003
Taylor J, Glover EA (2016) Lucinid bivalves of Guadeloupe: diversity and systematics in the context of the tropical western Atlantic (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Lucinidae). Zootaxa 4196(3): 301-380. Zootaxa, 4196 (3) : 301 - 380.
Taylor JD, Glover EA, Smith L, Ikebe C, Williams ST (2016) New molecular phylogeny of Lucinidae: increased taxon base with focus on tropical Western Atlantic species (Mollusca: Bivalvia).. Zootaxa, 4196 (3) : doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4196.3.2
Taylor JD, Glover EA (2016) Lucinidae of the Philippines: highest known diversity and ubiquity of chemosymbiotic bivalves from intertidal to bathyal depths (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Lucinidae).. Mémoires du Museum national d’Histoire Naturelle, 208 : 65 - 234.
Taylor J, Glover EA (2016) Pleurolucina from the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans: a new intertidal species from Curaçao with unusual shell microstructure (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Lucinidae). .. ZooKeys, 620 : 1 - 19.
Glover EA, Williams ST, Taylor JD (2016) Lucinid bivalves of Singapore and their relationships (Bivalvia: Lucinidae). RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY, 539 - 565.
Kiel S, Reich S, Renema W, Taylor JD, Wesselingh FP, Todd JA (2016) A Late Miocene methane-seep fauna from Kalimantan, Indonesia. Anon (Eds). 1st International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities., 136 6 - 13 6 6Abstracts. 1st International Workshop on Ancient Hydrocarbon Seep and Cognate Communities. Instytut Paleobiologii PAN. : Warsaw. 1 - 44.
González VL, Andrade SCS, Bieler R, Collins TM, Dunn CW, Mikkelsen PM, Taylor JD, Giribet G (2015) A phylogenetic backbone for Bivalvia: an RNA-seq approach. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282 (1801) : 20142332 - 20142332. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.2332
Bieler R, Mikkelsen PM, Collins TM, Glover EA, González VL, Graf DL, Harper EM, Healy J, Kawauchi GY, Sharma PP, Staubach S, Strong EE, Taylor JD, Tëmkin I, Zardus JD, Clark S, Guzmán A, McIntyre E, Sharp P, Giribet G (2014) Investigating the Bivalve Tree of Life – an exemplar-based approach combining molecular and novel morphological characters. Invertebrate Systematics, 28 (1) : 32 - 32. doi: 10.1071/is13010
Taylor JD, Glover EA, Williams ST (2014) Diversification of chemosymbiotic bivalves: origins and relationships of deeper water Lucinidae. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 111 (2) : 401 - 420. doi: 10.1111/bij.12208
Glover EA, Taylor JD (2013) A new shallow water species of Nucinella from the Philippines (Bivalvia: Protobranchia: Nucinellidae), member of a tropical seagrass chemosynthetic community. Nautilus, 127 : 101 - 106.
Taylor J, Glover E (null) New lucinid bivalves from shallow and deeper water of the Indian and West Pacific Oceans (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Lucinidae). ZooKeys, 326 : 69 - 90. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.326.5786
Taylor JD, Glover EA, Williams ST (2013) Taxonomy and phylogeny of western Atlantic Lucinidae: new genus for Lucina costata d'Orbigny, 1846, a new species of Ferrocina and neotype designation for Venus orbiculata (Montagu, 1808). NAUTILUS, 127 (4) : 131 - 146.
Oliver PG, Taylor JD (2012) Bacterial symbiosis in the Nucinellidae (Bivalvia: Solemyida) with descriptions of two new species. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 78 (1) : 81 - 91. doi: 10.1093/mollus/eyr045
Sharma PP, González VL, Kawauchi GY, Andrade SCS, Guzmán A, Collins TM, Glover EA, Harper EM, Healy JM, Mikkelsen PM, Taylor JD, Bieler R, Giribet G (2012) Phylogenetic analysis of four nuclear protein-encoding genes largely corroborates the traditional classification of Bivalvia (Mollusca). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 65 (1) : 64 - 74. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2012.05.025
Stewart JR, Aspinall S, Beech M, Fenberg P, Hellyer P, Larkin N, Lokier SW, Marx FG, Meyer M, Miller R, Rainbow PS, Taylor JD, Whittaker JE, Al-Mehsin K, Strohmenger CJ (2011) Biotically constrained palaeoenvironmental conditions of a mid-Holocene intertidal lagoon on the southern shore of the Arabian Gulf: evidence associated with a whale skeleton at Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30 (25-26) : 3675 - 3690. doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2011.09.004
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA, SMITH L, DYAL P, WILLIAMS ST (2011) Molecular phylogeny and classification of the chemosymbiotic bivalve family Lucinidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 163 (1) : 15 - 49. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00700.x
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA, Valentich-Scott P (2011) Not a "living fossil:" the eastern Pacific bivalve Tellidorella belongs with Lucinidae, not Cardiniidae. Nautilus, 125 : 75 - 78.
(2010) The Vent and Seep Biota, In: null, Springer Netherlands :
GLOVER EA, TAYLOR JD (2010) Needles and pins: acicular crystalline periostracal calcification in venerid bivalves (Bivalvia: Veneridae).. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 76 : 157 - 179.
Ball AD, Purdy KJ, Glover EA, Taylor JD (null) Ctenidial structure and three bacterial symbiont morphotypes in Anodontia (Euanodontia) ovum (Reeve, 1850) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Bivalvia: Lucinidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 75 (2) : 175 - 185. doi: 10.1093/mollus/eyp009
Taylor JD, Glover EA, Williams ST (2009) Phylogenetic position of the bivalve family Cyrenoididae-removal from (and further dismantling of) the superfamily Lucinoidea. NAUTILUS, 123 (1) : 9 - 13.
Glover EA, Taylor JD, Williams ST (2008) MANGROVE-ASSOCIATED LUCINID BIVALVES OF THE CENTRAL INDO-WEST PACIFIC: REVIEW OF THE "AUSTRIELLA" GROUP WITH A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES (MOLLUSCA: BIVALVIA: LUCINIDAE). RAFFLES BULLETIN OF ZOOLOGY, 25 - 40.
GLOVER EA, TAYLOR JD (2008) Callucina and Pseudolucinisca (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Lucinidae) from Australia: revision of genera and description of three new species. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 24 : 443 - 457.
Meyer E, Nilkerd B, GLOVER EA, TAYLOR JD (2008) Ecological imprtance of chemoautotrophic lucinid bivalves in a peri-marngrove comunity in Eastern Thailand. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 18 : 41 - 55.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA (2008) A giant lucinid bivalve from the Eocene of Jamaica - systematics, life habits and chemosymbiosis (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Lucinidae). Palaeontology, 52 : 95 - 109.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA, WILLIAMS ST (2008) Ancient chemosynthetic bivalves: systematics of Solemyidae from eastern and southern Australia (Mollusca: Bivalvia). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum — Nature Brisbane., In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Davie PJF, Phillips JA (Eds). Memoirs of Queensland Museum - Nature, 54(1) : 75 - 104.
GLOVER EA, TAYLOR JD (2007) Diversity of chemosymbiotic bivalves on coral reefs: Lucinidae (Mollusca: Bivalvia) of New Caledonia and Lifou. Zoosystema, 29 : 109 - 181.
Taylor JD, Williams ST, Glover EA (2007) Evolutionary relationships of the bivalve family Thyasiridae (Mollusca: Bivalvia), monophyly and superfamily status. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 87 (2) : 565 - 574. doi: 10.1017/s0025315407054409
Taylor JD, Williams ST, Glover EA, Dyal P (2007) A molecular phylogeny of heterodont bivalves (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Heterodonta): new analyses of 18S and 28S rRNA genes. Zoologica Scripta, 36 (6) : 587 - 606. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2007.00299.x
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA (2006) Lucinidae (Bivalvia) - the most diverse group of chemosymbiotic molluscs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 148 : 421 - 438.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA (2005) Diversity and distribution of subtidal benthic molluscs from the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia; results of the 1999 dredge survey (DA2/99). Records of the Western Australian Museum, 247 - 254.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA (2005) Cryptic diversity of chemosymbiotic bivalves: a systematic revision of worldwide Anodontia (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Lucinidae). Systematics and Biodiversity, 3 : 281 - 338.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA, WILLIAMS ST (2005) Another bloody bivalve: anatomy and relationships of Eucrassatella donacina from south western Australia (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Crassatellidae), In: The marine Flora and Fauna of Esperance, Western Australia, Wells FE, Walker DI, Kendrick GA (Eds). Western Australian Museum : Perth. 261 - 288.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA, Zuschin M, Dworscgak PC, Waitzbauer W (2005) Another bivalve with dreadlocks: living Rasta lamyi from Aqaba, Red Sea (Bivalvia: Lucinidae). Journal of Conchology, 38 : 489 - 497.
Bigatti G, Peharda M, Taylor J (2004) Size at first maturity, oocyte envelopes and external morphology of sperm in three species of Lucinidae (Mollusca : Bivalvia) from Florida Keys, USA. MALACOLOGIA 46 (2) : 417 - 426.
GLOVER EA, TAYLOR JD, Rowden AA (2004) Bathyaustriella thionipta, a new lucinid bivalve from a hydrothermal vent on the Kermadec Ridge, New Zealand and its relationship to shallow water taxa (Bivalvia: Lucinidae). Journal of Molluscan Studies, 70 : 283 - 295.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER E, Peharda M, Bigatti G, BALL A (2004) Extraordinary flexible shell sculpture: the structure and formation of calcified periostracal lamellae in Lucina pensylvanica (Bivalvia: Lucinidae). Malacologia, 46 : 227 - 194.
WILLIAMS ST, TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA (2004) MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF THE LUCINOIDEA (BIVALVIA): NON‐MONOPHYLY AND SEPARATE ACQUISITION OF BACTERIAL CHEMOSYMBIOSIS. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 70 (2) : 187 - 202. doi: 10.1093/mollus/70.2.187
GLOVER EA, TAYLOR JD, Slack-Smith S (2003) A new species and genus of lucinid bivalve from Western Australia (Bivalvia: Lucinidae), In: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier,Western Australia, Wells FE, Walker DI, Jones DS (Eds). Western Australian Museum : Perth. 419 - 423.
GLOVER EA, TAYLOR JD, WHITTAKER J (2003) Distribution, abundance and foraminiferal diet of an intertidal scaphopod, Laevidentalium lubricatum, around the Burrup Peninisula, Dampier, Western Australia, In: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia (Proceedings of the Twelfth International Marine Biological Workshop, Dampier, Australia, 2000), Wells FE, Walker DI, Jones DS (Eds). Western Australian Museum : Perth. 225 - 240.
TAYLOR JD, GLOVER EA (2003) Food of giants - field observations on the diet of Syrinx aruanus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Turbinellidae) the largest living gastropod, In: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia, Wells FE, Walker DI, Jones DS (Eds). Western Australian Museum : Perth. 217 - 223.
Taylor JD, Glover EA (null) A new species of Lucinoma from 240–500 m on the continental shelf break off Newfoundland (Bivalvia: Lucinidae). The Nautilus, 131 (2) : 127 - 137.