[Taxacom] SUSPECT Re: Molecules vs Morphology

[Bob Mesibov]

I've been scratching my head trying to think of A Wonderful Example over which Zander could debate with Blanco and Mate. No light globe has suddenly switched on, but peppered moths ain't bad:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppered_moth_evolution

If a molecular phylogeneticist arrived from Mars and sampled typica, carbonaria and another form, he/she/it could build a simply elegant and well-supported 3-terminal tree with suitable gene sequences showing the evolution of carbonaria from a typica-like ancestor. Great science, pity about missing the rest of the story.

On the other hand, which bits of the story correspond with Zander's 'envirosome'?
-- 
Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and
School of Zoology, University of Tasmania
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
(03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195
Website: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/mesibov.html