Cladistics

[Russell Seymour]

>At 15:39 -0700 98.8.20, Jenny Xiang wrote:
>>  I remmember some time ago, someone suggested a good book on cladistics
>> for beginners.  Deos anyone still have that information? I would greatly
>> appreciate it if someone can forward that informaton to me or recommend
>> other such books.
>
>Hi Jenny,
>
>You can have another introductory textbook on cladistcs:
>
>P.L. Forey, C.J. Humphries, I.J. Kitching, R.W. Scotland, D.J. Siebeld and
>D.M. Williams 1992.
>_Cladistics: a practical course in systematics._
>Oxford University Press, Oxford, xii+191pp.
>Available in hbk/pbk. ISBN 0-19-857767-2 (hbk)
>
>A few years ago one of the authors told me that they had a plan for revising
>the above book (or writing a new book?) in near future. Does anyone have any
>information about it?
>
>Nobuhiro Minaka


The second edition of this book has just come out (in the UK at least).
Coincidentally I ordered my copy yesterday! I'm pretty certain that the
title has remained the same but the authorship has switched around to
Kitching, Forey, Humphries and Williams.

A quick look through a copy shows that there are some changes in content,
the most obvious being the inclusion of so much of the up-to-date
literature published since the original edition in 1992.

As far as a recommendation for absolute beginners I would suggest 'The
Compleat Cladist' due to its clarity and simplicity but 'Cladistics' is
certainly the most complete and comprehensive treatment of the subject (and
so, whilst still very well written, is necessarily more technical).

RUSS

_________________________________________________________________

Russell Seymour
PhD Research Student
Institute of Zoology            and     Durrell Institute of
Zoological Society of London            Conservation and Ecology
Regents Park                            University of Kent
London                                  UK
NW1  4RY
UK
Tel: + 44 (0)171 449 6621
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