rampant Eclecticism

[Barry M. OConnor]

At 10:14 AM +1000 2/6/02, Dave Walter wrote:

>I agree with the basic premise, but it seems obvious to me that we all do
>perpetuate paraphyletic groups to one degree or another by using the
>traditional groups we now have reason to believe are flawed.  We do it
>every day....
>
>In parallel, Euoribatida is the solution proposed for a similar mite
>problem (and an inclusive clade, the Sarcoptiformes, that includes 'ground
>trash' and more derived lineages).  Unfortuantely, no one seems in a hurry
>to adopt the new terms, although the supporting data seems clear.  An
>interesting aspect of the sarcoptiform 'ground trash' is that many are clones.
>
We don't always do it every day, but sometimes editors insist.  I recently
submitted a paper in which I used "lepidosaurs" to refer to lizard and
snake hosts of mites, but the editor thought nobody would recognize the
term and insisted I use "reptiles."

As for the mites, I've been arguing for years that Sarcoptiformes is a
perfectly fine (i.e. monophyletic) group (and name) and that instead of
using the clearly paraphyletic group "Endeostigmata" for the basal clades,
I talk about these taxa as "basal sarcoptiforms" rather in analogy with
"non-avian dinosaurs." - Barry

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So many mites, so little time!
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Barry M. OConnor
Professor & Curator             phone: (734) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (734) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA