More on human-orangutan analysis

[John Grehan]

At 11:19 AM 6/26/2003 -0500, Richard Jensen wrote:

>  However, status as a shared, derived character (synapomorphy) can only
> be determined a posteriori; if we knew, going in, what the shared,
> derived characters were, there would be no need for the analysis!

My understanding is that analysis is needed, not simply because one does
not know what are derived characters, but because they are distributed
among the in group taxa in such a way to suggest more than one possible
relationship. If they all had the same within the in-group taxa there would
be no need for further analysis and the a priori designations for these
characters would stand on their own merits.

John Grehan


Dr. John Grehan
Director of Science and Collections
Buffalo Museum of Science
1020 Humboldt Parkway
Buffalo, New York 14211-1293
Voice 716-896-5200 x372
Fax 716-897-6723
jgrehan at sciencebuff.org
http://www.sciencebuff.org/biogeography/Panbiogeography/Panbiogeography-Gate.htm
http://www.sciencebuff.org/HepialidaeGate.htm