group vs catagory

[Kipling Will]

Since there seems to be a good many readers interested in precise use of
terms, I wanted to point
out that in a recent post the following was written:


<Just as "taxon" means "taxonomic group", and is the term to cover all
such, e.g.
<species, genera, familiae etc.,


The terms group and category are confused. A taxonomic group is just that,
a group (with
more or less definite boundaries) such as Pterostichus stygicus,
Pterostichus, Pterostichini or Carabidae. A taxonomic category is the
level, e.g., species, genus, tribe or family. No matter how you define a
genus group, the genus category is a level between family and species that
contains one or more species. See Blackwelder, 1967,  _Taxonomy; a text and
reference book_. New York, Wiley. , for many clear examples as to why this
is important. Also, I would recommend this reference to anyone interested
in systematics/taxonomy. The text includes issues regarding the kinds of
types and the process of naming etc. Of course some things have changed in
the last 22 years, but the notions of philosophy and terminology remain
potent. If more people would read his clear discussions on many topics we
would see fewer errors of this type in journals such as Systematic Biology
and Cladistics.

have a great day
kip