Re: Character State Choice - We Have a Long Way to Go

[david peters <davidrpeters@earthlink.net>]

4 outgroup, 109 ingroup, 178 characters, that's 20,000+ boxes to fill. 76% 
filled. 92% when you factor out the headless and bodyless specimens. Not too 
patchy. 

dp


-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Taylor <mike@indexdata.com>
Sent: May 28, 2004 8:19 AM
To: mmilbocker@psdllc.com
Cc: davidrpeters@earthlink.net, dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: Character State Choice - We Have a Long Way to Go

> Date: Fri, 28 May 2004 10:59:00 -0400
> From: Mike Milbocker <mmilbocker@psdllc.com>
> 
>> I found in my cladistic analysis of the Pterosauria similar
>> problems. Try statistics. Take all the data and ratios, then place
>> the figures on a continuum. Let them fall, like pachinko pinballs,
>> into natural groupings into a jagged sort of bell curve,
>> (usually). At the 'breaks' you can place upper and lower limits on
>> the various states.
> 
> This is actually a good idea [...]

It's not obviously true to me that it's good to let the choice of
characters in an analysis be dictated by the current patchy fossil
record.

 _/|_    _______________________________________________________________
/o ) \/  Mike Taylor  <mike@indexdata.com>  http://www.miketaylor.org.uk
)_v__/\  "If the sparkle fades from your writing, keep writing till
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