Schulte et al. 2003 (Herpetologica 59(3), 2003, 399-419) write:



"For over a century, herpetologists have recognized Iguanidae in the sense followed in this paper (Boulenger, 1884; Camp, 1923; Etheridge and de Queiroz, 1988). The eight family taxonomy of Frost and Etheridge was proposed in 1989, was never fully accepted (Pough et al., 2001; Schwenk, 1994; Zug et al., 2001), and was subsequently rejected by Macey et al. (1997a), who provided evidence for monophyly of Iguanidae as traditionally circumscribed and recognized the eight taxa ranked as families by Frost and Etheridge (1989) as subfamilies. In addition, the taxonomic recommendation of Frost and Etheridge (1989) to place Agamidae* in synonymy with Chamaeleonidae has never been widely accepted (Barts and Wilms, 1997; Cogger, 2000; Manthey and Grossman, 1997). Macey et al. (1997a) also reversed this proposal by removing Agamidae* from synonymy with Chamaeleonidae, and that traditional arrangement was subsequently followed by Frost et al. (2001a)."



As Schulte et al. also point out, Frost and Etherdige split the Iguanidae into 8 families because there "was the lack of morphological evidence to support monophyly of Iguanidae...." Other scientists, however, do not have the same doubt about the monophyly of the Iguanidae as Frost and Etheridge and they question the need to recognize so many families using characters that are at best indicative of subfamilial relationship. Hence knowledgeable scientists like Lazell and Zug do not recognize the splitting of the Iguanidae. One can say that Lazell and Zug are examples of Galileo's "good philosophers" who fly alone like eagles. Those who follow Frost and Etheridge's proposal blindly are Galileo's "starlings."



Galileo writes: "It is true that because eagles are rare birds they are little seen and less heard, while birds that fly like starlings fill the sky with shrieks and cries, and wherever they settle befoul the earth beneath them."



The literature of the past decade has been "befouled" by the "starlings'" usage of Frost and Etheridge's 8 family arrangement.



Schulte et al. continue: "Less than a decade later, Macey et al. (1997a) and Schulte et al. (1998), using combined and separate analyses of morphological and molecular data, found strong support for monophyly of Iguanidae, with the former study recommending a return to the traditional recognition of a single family Iguanidae (sensu lato) and considering the families of Frost and Etheridge (1989) as subfamilies."



Frost and Etheridge's controversial classification found widespread acceptance among those who blindly follow the latest proposals. Knowledgeable herpetologists, however, ignore their taxonomically destructive arrangement. It appears that their classification has been completely undone. The new proposal is a reversion to the traditional 3 family arrangement of Iguanidae, Chameleonidae and Agamidae. It shows that classifications can never be "fait accomplis" because they can be easily undone.

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