Phenetics

["John V Jackson" <jjackson@interalpha.co.uk>]

How nice to see the concept of Phenetics mentioned on the list.
Unfortunately it was not quite in the way I had hoped, but maybe someone has
views on its utility for dino palaeontology.

Chambers: "Phenetics (biol) noun singular.  A system of classification of
organisms based on observable similarities and differences irrespective of
whether or not the organisms are related"

The explanation someone told me had to do with grouping types together in
*clusters*; types with many close relatives would be in a cluster (the less
well-connected would be in some inter-cluster zone) and presumably namings
would be by cluster rather than by feature or relationship.  The
"irrespective of whether or not the organisms are related" part of the
definition would undergo progressive diminuition, I would hope.



JJ