Skip Navigation

Systematic Biology 2007 56(6):956-974; doi:10.1080/10635150701656378
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by de Queiroz, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by de Queiroz, K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2007 Society of Systematic Biologists

Toward an Integrated System of Clade Names

Kevin de Queiroz

1 Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC, 20560, USA E-mail: dequeirozk{at}si.edu

Edited by Thomas Buckley: Associate Editor Jack Sullivan Editor


  Abstract

Although the proposition that higher taxa should correspond to clades is widely accepted, current nomenclature does not distinguish clearly between different clades in nested series. In particular, the same name is often applied to a total clade, its crown clade, and clades originating with various nodes, branches, and apomorphies in between. An integrated system of clade names is described based on categories of clades defined with respect to lineages that have survived to the present time. In this system, the most widely known names are applied to crown clades, the names of total clades are formed by adding a standard prefix to the names of the corresponding crowns, and the names of apomorphy clades describe the specific apomorphies with which they originated. Relative to traditional approaches, this integrated approach to naming clades is both more precise concerning the associations of names with particular clades and more efficient with regard to the cognitive effort required to recognize the names of corresponding crown and total clades. It also seems preferable to five alternatives that could be used to make the same distinctions. The integrated system of clade names has several advantages, including the facilitation of communication among biologists who study distantly related clades, promoting a broader conceptualization of the origins of distinctive clades of extant organisms and emphasizing the continuous nature of evolution.

Keywords: Apomorphy; branch; clade; crown clade; names; node; stem; total clade

Received March 3, 2007; Revised May 15, 2007; Accepted July 10, 2007
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Syst BiolHome page
C. A. Brochu, J. R. Wagner, S. Jouve, C. D. Sumrall, and L. D. Densmore
A Correction Corrected: Consensus Over the Meaning of Crocodylia and Why It Matters
Syst Biol, October 1, 2009; 58(5): 537 - 543.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.