tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342041114052632712.post918206603570718887..comments2024-01-20T16:39:42.179+11:00Comments on PhyloBotanist: My own take of the species problemAlex SLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00801894164903608204noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342041114052632712.post-60850662744659932013-07-03T08:08:28.076+10:002013-07-03T08:08:28.076+10:00As mentioned earlier, in my opinion the term monop...As mentioned earlier, in my opinion the term monophyletic cannot actually be made to apply to sexually reproducing species, it would be something like a category error. If the phrase is meant to indicate that the all alleles of every individual gene in a species are monophyletic relative to related species then no, there are papers showing that incomplete lineage sorting exists in animals just as in plants.<br /><br />Animals may have it easier to select their mates and thus avoid hybridization. But even in plants I suspect that the evidence for hybrid speciation is probably being overestimated. In how many cases has somebody observed incomplete lineage sorting and shouted "evidence for hybridization!" because they were quite simply unaware of the former possibility or did not have a test on their hands to distinguish the two scenarios?<br /><br />I also think Hennig's internodon species concept is entirely irrelevant for classificatory practice, not least because most of us work with extant species only.Alex SLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00801894164903608204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3342041114052632712.post-11633387619755209922013-07-03T02:08:56.853+10:002013-07-03T02:08:56.853+10:00That sounds pretty reasonable to me. Animal speci...That sounds pretty reasonable to me. Animal species are, I think, generally monophyletic. My impression is that a fair number of plant species are of hybrid origin. I couldn't think of an animal species of hybrid origin. However, I looked around and found a fish species said to be of hybrid origin. The white shiner is a hybrid between the crescent shiner and the common shiner. <br /><br />I take it you don't think the Hennig idea of a speciation event marking the extinction of the ancestral species and the origin of two new species is useful. In my work it hasn't mattered one way or the other.Jim Thomersonnoreply@blogger.com