1AEON—Africa Earth Observatory Network, Geoecodynamics Research Hub, c/o Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa; 2SARChI Chair on Biodiversity Value & Change in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve & Core Member of Centre for Invasion Biology, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou 0950, Sou...

The non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of influenza A virus (IAV), coded by its third most diverse gene, interacts with multiple molecules within infected cells. NS1 is involved in host immune response regulation and is a potential contributor to the virus host range. Early phylogenetic analyses using 50 sequences led to the classification of NS1 gene variants into groups (alleles) A and B. We rean...

-In this history of numerical taxonomy since the publication in 1963of Sokal and Sneath's Principles of Numerical Taxonomy, I include reminiscences of the reactions of biologists in Britain and elsewhere. Much of the original program has proved sound. The debate on phenetic and phylogenetic classifications has been valuable, although the logical and theoretical aspects of phenetics have been gr...

I entered the phylogenetic scheme of thingsas a graduate student at TheOhio State University in 1975. I stumbled overHennig’s book (1966) theŽrst year ofmyOSUgraduate career and by checking the references under Hennig in the Science Citation Index I discovered the journal Systematic Zoology. It was as if I had fallen into another world, quite like Alice when she followed the rabbit down the rab...

--This paper proposes that avian classifications hould express the content of natural groups, that is, taxa that are our best estimates of genealogically related groups of species. The information content of classifications consists only of the hierarchical arrangement of groups within groups, and phylogenetic classifications can store and retrieve such information precisely because genealogica...

Although most fields of science are constantly struggling with which methodologies to use, the field of systematics, and especially paleontology, has adopted phylogenetic systematics (cladistic methodology) to the exclusion of other approaches. Despite a barrage of cautions and criticism, cladistics reigns. Considered a triumph of the field of paleontology and the crown jewel of cladistic metho...

The creationist biosystematic method of baraminology has grown significantly in the past decade. Its conceptual foundations were discussed in the evolution/creation debates of the nineteenth century, long before Frank Lewis Marsh coined the term baramin in 1941. Currently, baraminology has been applied to dozens of groups, and the results of 66 baraminology studies are summarized and evaluated ...

The alleged dichotomy between industrial and consumer marketing is logically weak and poorly supported by empirical evidence. The science of taxonomy is highly developed in other fields of study. The industrial/consumer dichotomy fails to meet the criteria for a logically based taxonomic framework. Scientific effort should be directed towards the development of valid marketing classifications b...