An answer to paraphyly

[Maureen Kearney]

On Tue, 17 Jun 1997, Thomas G. Lammers wrote:

> I will never accept  that the evolution of a new species from an existing
> one somehow magically transforms what is left into a new species itself, any
> more than the simple death of individuals or extirpation of populations can
> transform what remains  into a new species.


Perhaps the problem is in thinking that the initial species must
transform. It's not that the initial species is TRANSFORMED into a new
species itself; it's that the initial species is no longer the SAME THING
as it was before the new population was removed from it.  It's like set
theory - when you remove set A from set B, set B is now something
different.

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Maureen Kearney
George Washington University
Dept. of Biological Sciences
Washington, DC  20052
202/994-6090                    phone
202/994-6100                    fax
mkearney at gwis2.circ.gwu.edu     e-mail