Re: T-J Extinction event article (more media errors?)

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/12/01 12:50:44 PM EST, qilongia@yahoo.com writes:

<< This problem can be nipped in the bud (as it were): Don't have
 paraphyletic taxa. >>

The reason to have paraphyletic taxa is to avoid having 2n higher taxa for 
every n species. Consider: no matter where you add a species to a cladogram, 
you add another node to it, and thus two more potential supraspecific taxa to 
your taxonomy (one node-based and one stem-based). Who needs so many taxa? 
(And I won't even go into the problems that >incorrect placement< of a 
species could generate.) Better to group the multitude of clades into a 
simple, partitioned hierarchy of larger groups that aid in general scientific 
discourse.