GenBank (Benson et al. 2013) is a database that
contains genetic sequences of species. Godfray
(2007) proposed that metagenomics can replace taxonomy
in identifying specimens. Indeed, giving
names to specimens is not the primary role of taxonomy,
the discipline being devoted to the description
of new species and to reconstruction of
phylogenies, focusing on both genotypes and phenotypes.
So, the use of metagenomics for routinary
species identification is a welcome technological aid
to the study of biodiversity, freeing taxonomists from
the burden of sorting and identifying biological
material
