[Taxacom] Wilkins on species, again

[Kirk Fitzhugh]

The more relevant question is, what are taxa? Assuming species are taxa. Wilkins treats species as if they're things to be explained. All I've perceived during my career have been organisms/semaphoronts. Never species or taxa.

Kirk

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J. Kirk Fitzhugh, Ph.D.
Curator of Polychaetes
Invertebrate Zoology Section
Research & Collections Branch
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90007
Phone: 213-763-3233
FAX: 213-746-2999
e-mail: kfitzhug at nhm.org
http://www.nhm.org/site/research-collections/polychaetous-annelids
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

________________________________________
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] on behalf of Bob Mesibov [mesibov at southcom.com.au]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 9:36 PM
To: TAXACOM
Subject: [Taxacom] Wilkins on species, again

[Stop reading NOW if you're bored by discussions on the nature of 'species'.]

John Wilkins has blogged a very easily readable essay arguing that species are recognisable phenomena, and that difficulties in defining them arise from trying to fit them into theoretical frameworks, i.e. from trying to explain their existence.

Here: http://evolvingthoughts.net/2013/10/are-species-theoretical-objects/
--
Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and
School of Agricultural Science, University of Tasmania
Home contact:
PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
(03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195

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