I don't see why you say that. The cladistics taxonomy based upon DNA tells a
lot about the descent of birds and, by now, there is a fairly strong
agreement about the family tree of birds. (It makes one look at Magpie Larks
in a very different way for a start.)
The study shows that birds that spread out a lot, or that can eat lots of
different foods - and so can live in lots of different places, are those
that are most likely to form new species. That appears to be close to the
bleeding obvious, but it isn't junk science that I can see. Why do you think
it is?
Tim Murphy
-----Original Message-----
From:
Behalf Of Graham Turner
Sent: Tuesday, 27 June 2006 1:27 PM
To: Baus
Subject: Biological traits that predict
diversificationrates in birds
This article has been bugging me for a week now.
Surely this study should be relegated to the junk science bin. Taxonomic
classification is an artificial construct designed to fit animals into
little boxes with neat labels. Trying to analyse this system probably says
more about taxonomists than the ecology of birds.
Cheers
Graham Turner
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