professor blooper

[Thomas E. Labedz]

As a young grad student my major prof was trying to rapidly explain the
difference between systematics and taxonomy to some undergraduates in the
class.  He described that systematics is the study of the relationship between
groups of organisms and taxonomy is the naming of those organisms or groups.
He described how as the better understanding of the relationships between
organisms gets us closer to the truth about these relationships the
taxonomists can change the names to reflect this understanding.  What came out
was "As the truth becomes known, taxonomists change it."
    Thomas Labedz
    University of Nebraska State Museum
    Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A.

"Susan B. Farmer" wrote:

> >From a recent non-majors biology quiz .....
>
> What's the difference in a protostome and a deuterostome?
>
>         - protostome is diploid and deuterostome is haploid
>         - protostome is a vascular plant with seeds and a deuterostome is a
>           seedless, non-vascular plant
>         - protostome is prokaryotic and deuterostome is eukaryotic.
>
> Susan
>
> Susan Farmer
> sfarmer at goldsword.com
> Botany Department, University of Tennessee
> http://www.goldsword.com/sfarmer/Trillium