birding-aus

Sooty Owl taxonomy

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Subject: Sooty Owl taxonomy
From: Murray Lord <>
Date: Wed, 04 May 2011 06:38:23 +0000
Yes that’s a fair point Andrew, I should have said “If you think species must 
be 
monophyletic then...”

Personally I think it’s wrong to require species to be monophyletic.  One 
particular form of a superspecies (say one isolated on an island) might be 
subject 
to quite different evolutionary pressures from the remainder, and diverge 
significantly.  But if you require all species to be monophyletic, then you 
might 
end up either having to keep them all lumped despite significant morphological 
differences, or else having to split the mainland forms (potentially into 
multiple 
species) in a way you would not contemplate if the island form did not exist.

On the other hand I agree that higher levels of taxonomy, eg families, ought to 
be 
monophyletic.

Murray



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