return to main index

  mobile - desktop
follow us on facebook follow us on twitter follow us on YouTube link to us on LinkedIn
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research  
click here for Rodent Pro
Mice, Rats, Rabbits, Chicks, Quail
Available Now at RodentPro.com!
Locate a business by name: click to list your business
search the classifieds. buy an account
events by zip code list an event
Search the forums             Search in:
News & Events: Herp Photo of the Day: Bullsnake . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day: Mangrove Snake . . . . . . . . . .  Greater Cincinnati Herp Society Meeting - Feb 05, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Calusa Herp Society Meeting - Feb 06, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  St. Louis Herpetological Society - Feb 09, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Kentucky Reptile Expo - Feb. 15, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Colorado Herp Society Meeting - Feb 15, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Chicago Herpetological Society Meeting - Feb 16, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  San Diego Herp Society Meeting - Feb 18, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Suncoast Herp Society Meeting - Feb 22, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  DFW Herp Society Meeting - Feb 22, 2025 . . . . . . . . . .  Bay Area Herpetological Society Meeting - Feb 28, 2025 . . . . . . . . . . 
Join USARK - Fight for your rights!
full banner - advertise here .50¢/1000 views
Layne Labs - Natural Diets for Pets & Wildlife
pool banner - $50 year

Challenge to Cking

[ Login ] [ User Prefs ] [ Search Forums ] [ Back to Main Page ] [ Back to Taxonomy Discussion ] [ Reply To This Message ]
[ Register to Post ]

Posted by: emoneill at Fri Oct 3 07:56:41 2008  [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by emoneill ]  
   

Okay Cking, I have a final challenge for you. Tell me whether B and C form a paraphyletic or polyphyletic group in this example:

The relationships among the taxa are ((A,B)C)(D,E). The character matrix is:

A - 000
B - 111
C - 111
D - 000
E - 000

Lets assume that 1000 other characters support the above relationships perfectly (i.e. no homoplasy), so the relationships are not ambiguous. Using a character based definition of para and polyphyly (which you appear to prefer), I argue that there is no way to distinguish between between para or polyphyly, but it is clear that these two species do not form a monophyletic (i.e. ancestor and all descendents) group. This is what I suggested could happen, while you denied it is possible. In this case it is clearly correct to state that B and C are not monophyetic (unless you and I disagree on the definition of monophyly), but it is not clear whether they are para or polyphyletic. Hence the appropriate use of the term non-monophyltic. If you can prove that there is a way to tell whether B and C are para or polyphyletic, I am very interested to see this proof.


   

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]


>> Next topic:  Atractaspis - Mark_in_SE_Wisc, Tue Sep 16 23:39:29 2008
<< Previous topic:  The genus Lampropeltis - CKing, Wed Jun 11 01:59:07 2008