Definition of Systematics

[Neil Sarkar]

How about:
"Systematics, or phylogenetics, is the science of organizing biological
entities (e.g., organisms) into a directed hierarchical structure that
implies the evolutionary history of life on Earth."

I recently edited a journal issue that is comprised of a set of mostly
review articles that cover some of the fundamental methods used in
contemporary systematics:

Journal of Biomedical Informatics; Volume 39; Issue 1
http://www.genomecurator.org/jbi
(this URL should redirect you directly to the journal website)

While not aimed at the general public, it may still be informative.

-Neil.


On 2006/04/14 15:32, "Amy Rossman" <amy at NT.ARS-GRIN.GOV> wrote:

> Communicating about the importance of systematics to non-specialists is
> difficult.  Does
> anyone have any thoughts on a good definition that is understood by the lay
> public?

--
Indra Neil Sarkar, PhD
Bioinformatics Associate
Divisions of Invertebrate Zoology
  & Library Services
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York, NY 10024 USA
+1 212 769 5571
--
email: sarkar at amnh.org
www  : genomeCurator.org/people/sarkar
skype: genomeCurator
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