Skip navigation
Skip navigation

Current taxonomy and diversity of crown ruminants above the species level

Groves, Colin

Description

Linnaeus gave us the idea of systematics, with each taxon of lower rank nested inside one of higher rank; Darwin showed that these taxa are the result of evolution; Hennig demonstrated that, if they are to mean anything, all taxa must represent monophyla. He also proposed that, to bring objectivity into the system, each taxonomic rank should be characterised by a particular time depth, but this is not easy to bring about: genera such as Drosophila and Eucalyptus have a time-depth comparable to...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorGroves, Colin
dc.coverage.spatialMunich
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-07T22:22:43Z
dc.identifier.isbn1612-4138
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/20359
dc.description.abstractLinnaeus gave us the idea of systematics, with each taxon of lower rank nested inside one of higher rank; Darwin showed that these taxa are the result of evolution; Hennig demonstrated that, if they are to mean anything, all taxa must represent monophyla. He also proposed that, to bring objectivity into the system, each taxonomic rank should be characterised by a particular time depth, but this is not easy to bring about: genera such as Drosophila and Eucalyptus have a time-depth comparable to whole orders among mammals! Within restricted groups of organisms, however, time-depths do tend to vary within limits: we will not do too much violence to current usage if we insist that a modern mammal (including ruminant) genus must have a time-depth of about 5 million years, i.e. going back at least to the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, and a modern family must have a time-depth of about 25 million years, i.e. going back to the Oligocene-Miocene boundary. Molecular studies show that living ruminants present examples where the .traditional" classification (in the main laid down in the mid-20th-century, and all too often still accepted as standard even today) violates Hennigian principles. Among Bovidae, the genera Sos, Tragelaphus, Gazella and Hemitragus are paraphyletic, and so, among Cervidae, are the genera Cervus and Mazama. I will discuss what we can do about these, and will then present, with commentary, a classification of living ruminants.
dc.publisherBavarian State Collection for Paleontolgoy and Geology
dc.relation.ispartofseriesZitteliana B32, International Conference on Ruminant Phylogenetics
dc.sourceZitteliana B32
dc.titleCurrent taxonomy and diversity of crown ruminants above the species level
dc.typeConference paper
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
dc.date.issued2014
local.identifier.absfor160102 - Biological (Physical) Anthropology
local.identifier.ariespublicationu4070761xPUB12
local.type.statusPublished Version
local.contributor.affiliationGroves, Colin, College of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU
local.description.embargo2037-12-31
local.identifier.absseo970106 - Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
dc.date.updated2015-12-07T09:08:21Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-84928995932
CollectionsANU Research Publications

Download

File Description SizeFormat Image
01_Groves_Current_taxonomy_and_diversity_2014.pdf364.64 kBAdobe PDF    Request a copy
02_Groves_Current_taxonomy_and_diversity_2014.pdf522.76 kBAdobe PDF    Request a copy


Items in Open Research are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Updated:  17 November 2022/ Responsible Officer:  University Librarian/ Page Contact:  Library Systems & Web Coordinator