RE: Padian et al. 1999 (Was: New PaleoBios paper - diplodocoid phylogenetic taxonomy)

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: Roberto Takata [mailto:rmtakata@gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2005 3:33 PM
>
>
> 2005/10/4, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>:
>
> > > Roberto Takata
> > > But that was only because the taxonomists tried to not to push aside
> > > evolutionary issues - well actually it was in the order of the day
> > > since Darwin times.
> > >
> > Ummm... No.
>
> Well, I think so. If taxonomist abandon the ideal of reflect
> evolutionary relationships in their classification systems, that is,
> give any objective meaning to their groups, a stability could be
> achieved - before evolutionary systematics, linnean taxonomy merely
> put beings in categories by their (mainly) morphological resemblances,
> there is no hypothesis to test - just in a way that there is no
> hypothesis to test in a library book order, it is a result of a priori
> set of rules that must be applied. It keeps things in order.
>
Okay, I concede the point in principle. But in practice, even pre-evolutionary 
Linnean taxonomists grouped and regrouped and shifted
and reorganized their classifications from edition to edition and volume to 
volume. So even then "stability" was not achieved.

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
        Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
        Mailing Address:
                Building 237, Room 1117
                College Park, MD  20742

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