Re: Why all the fuss? (flame-free)

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated Thu, 8 Nov 2001  9:34:18 AM Eastern Standard Time, "Ken 
Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com> writes:

> If we are going to formally remove Aves from Reptilia, some kind of 
> explicit marker must be left behind to avoid the loss of information and 
> testability.

So your classification includes the same information as mine but with an added 
level of complexity and opacity.  Why would anyone want to do such a thing?

--Nick P.

>      So that is the heart of the matter.  Is the banning of formal 
> paraphyletic groups worth the price (especially in instability and 
> confusion)?  And the answer to that depends on how stiff you think that 
> price will be.  Benton obviously thinks the price is too high and will only 
> rise as time goes on, while strict cladists believe it will be a shorter 
> term problem and that we will not have to continue paying that price 
> indefinitely.  I obviously think a modest amount of explicit paraphyly would 
> avert a lot of these problems, and could give us the best of both worlds, 
> but others clearly disagree.
>                 -------Ken
> 
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