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Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2001 18:48:50 -0500
From: Kevin de Queiroz <Dequeiroz.Kevin@NMNH.SI.EDU>
To: PhyloCode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu
Subject: Wagner's proposals
I was very interested to read Jonathann Wagner's recent proposals--those = about apomorphy-based clades and definitions in particular. I was = interested because I have been developing basically the same ideas for the = nomenclature of vertebrates that will form one of the "companion volumes" = to the PhyloCode. In addition, Jacques and I are including some of these = ideas in a paper on the names several nested clades that include birds (in = which we deal with these issues regarding some of the very names mentioned = by David Marjanovic in his posting). Specifically, I had been using what = Jonathan proposed as recommendations 11.8C and D; I can't claim to have = given any thought to his 11.8E. In any case, I also had not considered = suggesting these ideas as recommendations for the PhyloCode, because I was = thinking of them as conventions that might or might not be adopted = independent of adoption of the PhyloCode. Now that Jonathan has raised = the possibility of including them as recommendations, I think this idea = ought to be considered seriously, though I have not yet decided what I = think. They certainly should not be rules, but it's at least worth = consiidering including them as recommendations. Despite my agreement with = Dave Hillis on many issues relating to the PhyloCode, I don't share his = dislike of apomorphy-based definitions. This is not to say that I = disagree with the problems he raises. Nevertheless, despite these = problems, sometimes an apomorphy-based definition is the appropriate = definition for the clade concept being named. Kevin Kevin de Queiroz Division of Amphibians & Reptiles National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC 20560-0162 Phone: (202) 357-2212 FAX: (202) 786-2979 e-mail: dequeirk@nmnh.si.edu