DePhylocode: Light, not heat?

[Richard Jensen]

Ken Kinman wrote:

>      The clade "eudicots" is an excellent example of how most such clades
> *should* be named--- informally.  This indeed does work very well.  I
> recognized the "eudicot" clade in my 1994 classification.
>

Last August, at the Botany 2001 meetings in Albuquerque, Kevin Nixon, in a
wonderfully presented critique of Phylocode, demonstrated that the so-called
"eudicots" are based on a smattering of evidence that almost assuredly will not
survive more careful scrutiny.  I don't have all the details, but one of his
points was that such ephemeral taxa are one excellent reason for not adopting
the phylocode.

Perhaps some out there have a better recollection than I of what Kevin said.

Cheers,

Dick
--
Richard J. Jensen              TEL: 219-284-4674
Department of Biology      FAX: 219-284-4716
Saint Mary's College         E-mail: rjensen at saintmarys.edu
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