In reply to Leo, I don't believe that "Sophronitis" cernua is even in the same genus as Soph. coccinea, never mind S. pumila, S. tenebrosa, or S. purpurata for that matter. What genus are the rupicolous "Laelias" now?
Are you into nucleic acids analysis at BASF? Bonaventure Message: 2 Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:45:01 -0400 From: Leo Schordje <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [OGD] molecular cladistics To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Regarding Jean Allen-Ikeson question on DNA & molecular cladistics. This question brings to mind one of my rants and raves against stupidity. Any molecular cladistic tree that says Laelia tenebrosa and Sophronitis cernua belong in the same genus is absurd nonesense. Obviously the DNA segments chosen were inappropriate. Of the thousands of potential trees they chose from, the one the computer picked as 'most parsimonious' is one that did not happen out in nature. Garbage in garbage out systemics. The authors of such schemes have no common sense, obviously are not looking at the living organisms they are studying. The 250 years of accumulating taxonic knowledge should not be ignored. If a molecular cladistic scheme predicts absurd groupings, then it is not useful, as these groupings do not reflect actual relationships in nature. Are there any groups of researchers challenging the papers from the one group I am referring to? I haven't seen anything lately, Leo _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
