Polytomies

[Tom DiBenedetto]

On Mon, 16 Jun 1997 09:20:20 +1100, Eric Zurcher wrote:

>Why is it that many cladists insist on regarding ALL polytomies as
>"resolvable", and that all we need is more knowledge to resolve them? I see
>no convincing reason why REAL polytomies cannot occur.

Cladists insist on regarding all polytomies as *potentially*
resolvable, for there is no way of knowing if any particular polytomy
represents a real polytomy, or a lack of adequate information. Thus
by continuing to study the problem we can hope to resolve the ones
that need resolving. Real polytomies will resist resolution. What is
the point of arguing against searching for more information?





Tom DiBenedetto                 http://www-personal.umich.edu/~tdib/
Fish Division                                   tdib at umich.edu
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology