[Taxacom] We're on a road to nowhere

[Richard Zander]

What passes for the null hypothesis of dispersalists is "if a species occurs on an oceanic island never connected to the mainland, you can't use it as informative in vicariance biogeography." Juan Fernandez is the usual example.

I forget who formulated this, but it seems cogent. 

 
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Richard H. Zander
Missouri Botanical Garden, PO Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 USA�
Web sites: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/�and http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/bfnamenu.htm
Modern Evolutionary Systematics Web site: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/21EvSy.htm


-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Rob Smissen
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2011 5:20 AM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: [Taxacom] We're on a road to nowhere

Despite my sympathies with Jason, I'm with Michael and John on this one. Dispersalism is biogeographic Nihilism.

"Everything is everywhere" is the dispersalists null hypothesis. Not good for biogeography.

But very hard to disprove!

John Grehan has dispersed to Buffalo.

Oh well.

Glad I'm not a biogeographer.

Back to taxonomy.

cheers
Rob
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