What is a character?

[Don.Colless at CSIRO.AU]

Personally, I believe that insistence on precise definitions is often
unhelpful and at base illusory; but a common set of agreed terms (or an
understanding of the other chap's usage) is no doubt important. If someone's
starting a thread on the term "character", I recommend a glance at my own
discussion of the matter - Sys. Zool. 34:229-233, 1985 - that is, if your
library goes back to the Dark Ages!

Don Colless,
CSIRO Div of Entomology,
Canberra.
email don.colless at csiro.au
tel. (02)62464270
tuz le munz est miens envirun