Taxacom: strict cladists war against paraphyletic taxa

Fri Dec 12 06:53:00 CST 2025

Hi Mikhail,

This would not be an ideal solution. A much better approach would be to merge all the Baikal taxa with Gammarus. In general, I believe this would be the preferable outcome, although exceptions may certainly occur. A comparable situation arose when several genera of Nematinae (Tenthredinidae sawflies) were merged into the large genus Euura. The change was not universally welcomed, but the only real alternative - splitting them into numerous small genera - would have been a far worse option, especially since the species all look more or less the same.

Best,

Marko

-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> On Behalf Of Mikhail Daneliya via Taxacom
Sent: perjantai 12. joulukuuta 2025 14.04
To: taxacom at lists.ku.edu
Subject: Re: Taxacom: strict cladists war against paraphyletic taxa

I have been working with amphipod crustaceans, and there is a freshwater genus Gammarus. Everyone probably knows it. Its 200+ species look very similar. It is hard to doubt they belong to the same genus. Suddenly DNA phylogenetics, and have done too, discovers that the Lake Baikal radiation of amphipods - numerous endemic families, genera and species of very bizarre looking creatures - clearly nests within Gammarus. Would anyone dare to desintegrate Gammarus because of its paraphaly? This looks like the way evolution goes.

Sincerely,

Mikhail Daneliya

On Fri, 12 Dec 2025, 01:42 Kenneth Kinman via Taxacom, <taxacom at lists.ku.edu>
wrote:

> Hi All,
>      The war of strict cladists against paraphyletic taxa has been 
> going on for over 50 years.  My question is how successful that war 
> has been in regarding formal paraphyletic taxa as "unnatural" and to be eliminated.
>  Or as noted below, does strict cladism actually promote "disastrous 
> nomenclatural practices"?
>                         -------------Ken Kinman
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Paraphyly again defended (and strict cladism promotes "disastrous 
> nomenclatural practices) Kenneth Kinman kinman at 
> hotmail.com<mailto:taxacom%40mailman.nhm.ku.edu
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> Mon Apr 15 20:20:45 CDT 2019
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> ________________________________
>
> Hi All,
>       I just ran across this 2016 paper.  Yet another publication 
> defending the reality and need for paraphyletic taxa (for a variety of 
> reasons), and it labels strict cladism as promoting "disastrous 
> nomenclatural practices":
>
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.microbiologyresearch.org%2Fdocserver%2Ffulltext%2Fijsem%2F66%2F12%2F49&data%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C8530303c931b44008dd108de397d66c1%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C639011407927908850%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdataeu7yq%2BSiYEFKloNGQWg6KOSsYZdDurTmiI3DujdcNQ%3D&reserved=0
> 24_ijsem001474.pdf?expires55377331&id=id&accname=guest&checksumS7
> 594F4A96BABC3F0564A74650291D5
>
> Abstract:
> "Yeast systematics has wholeheartedly embraced the phylogenetic approach.
> Central to this has been the unspoken convention that taxa at all 
> ranks be strictly monophyletic. This can result in a proliferation of 
> small genera and instances of nomenclatural instability, counter to 
> the expected benefit of phylogenetic systematics. But the literature 
> abounds with examples, at all taxonomic levels, where paraphyly is a 
> reality that can no longer be ignored. The very concepts of Bacteria 
> or Archaea, under the constraint of monophyly, are in peril. It is 
> therefore desirable to effect a shift in practices that will recognize the existence of paraphyletic taxa."
>
> Another Quote from the articles:
> "Taxonomy sits at an ill-defined confluence of science, craft, 
> ontology and the law. Conscientious systematists aim at making sense 
> of the living world by organizing species into categories that are 
> meaningful not only to themselves, but also to other biologists and 
> the rest of humanity. The last decades have seen undue emphasis placed 
> on creating categories that reflect an erroneous model of 
> cladogenesis, one that is strictly dichotomous and symmetrical. A 
> large proportion of taxa arise not by fission of an ancestral 
> progenitor, but by a budding process that leaves the progenitor 
> enriched by the presence of its offspring. The retention of cohesive 
> parent taxa under a single designation, at the same rank as progeny taxa, has the potential to prevent disastrous nomenclatural practices."
>
>                 ------------------------Ken Kinman
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
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