While few would contest the need for classification to reflect genealogy via use of monophyletic groupings, it is when cladistic methods are carried to their logical end result and a system of complete hierarchy is established that bitter debate erupts. A taxon which is united by common descent and yet which excludes all the groups derived from that shared ancestry, is not at all reflective of evolutionary reality—it is instead a relict of a pre-evolutionary system of typological classification (Patterson 1981, 1982). In other words it is a taxonomic artifact, which cuts evolution off in midstream by implying disparity where there is none. Thus, proponents of cladistic methodology have long argued for the need to discourage the use of paraphyletic taxa and delimit in their stead, holophyle
Identifier (URI) | Rank |
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dbkwik:resource/90RQ5qhFAkvdmz92CZnbbw== | 5.88129e-14 |