In a message dated 10/28/01 2:53:33 PM EST, henri.ronkko@kolumbus.fi writes: << Does a holophyletic taxon include the stem species, despite the fact that the stem species isn't a descendant of itself? >> Yes. A (node-based) holophyletic clade is generally defined like, "Species A >and< all of its descendants." So the common ancestor, species A, is automatically included.