Biological Systematics: Principles and Applications
Andrew V. Z. Brower and Randall T. Schuh
Abstract
Understanding the history and philosophy of biological systematics (phylogenetics, taxonomy and classification of living things) is key to successful practice of the discipline. In this thoroughly revised third edition, the authors provide an updated account of cladistic principles and techniques, emphasizing their empirical and epistemological clarity. The book covers the history and philosophy of systematics; the mechanics and methods of character analysis, phylogenetic inference, and evaluation of results; the practical application of systematic results to biological classification, adaptat ... More
Understanding the history and philosophy of biological systematics (phylogenetics, taxonomy and classification of living things) is key to successful practice of the discipline. In this thoroughly revised third edition, the authors provide an updated account of cladistic principles and techniques, emphasizing their empirical and epistemological clarity. The book covers the history and philosophy of systematics; the mechanics and methods of character analysis, phylogenetic inference, and evaluation of results; the practical application of systematic results to biological classification, adaptation and coevolution, biodiversity, and conservation; along with new chapters on species and molecular clocks. The book is both a textbook for students studying systematic biology and a desk reference for practicing systematists. Part explication of concepts and methods, part exploration of the underlying epistemology of systematics, the edition addresses why some methods are more empirically sound than others.
Keywords:
biological systematics,
cladistic principles,
molecular clocks,
phylogenetics,
taxonomy,
living things,
biological classification,
character analysis,
phylogenetic inference,
biodiversity
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2021 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781501752773 |
| Published to Cornell Scholarship Online: September 2021 |
DOI:10.7591/cornell/9781501752773.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Andrew V. Z. Brower, author
United States Department of Agriculture
Randall T. Schuh, author
American Museum of Natural History
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