Spotlight on Book review Agnes Arber on Plant phy- logeny and the origin of major biomes Meeting reports: Evolution of protozoa and BackPage: other protists News and forthcoming Phylocode in events of the Paris Systematics Association Lucy? The orangutan and the enigma of human origin these are excellent events attracting For those interested in contributing substantial numbers of postgraduate Editorial a letter, article, a response, news students who have an opportunity to item to The Systematist, please note present talks and posters. The over- that the deadline for the next issue is whelming impression following this June 1 2005. year's event was the enthusiasm and Our cover will have already told professionalism generated by the you that the evolution of "The Malte C. Ebach & Paul Wilkin participants. Systematist" continues apace. We Editors 2005 heralds our fifth biennial hope that you like the content and meeting, this time to be held in new front page design: please let us Please visit the SA website: Cardiff (August 22nd-26th). The know your thoughts. Issue 24 high- www.systass.org biennials have now become events lights include an excellent article on not to be missed both for their sci- morphology vs. sequence data in ence and the conviviality. The three hominid systematics by John Letter from the themes chosen for this year address Grehan (p. 3-7), which is accompa- highly topical issues - The New nied by the specially commissioned President Taxonomy; What is Biogeography? cover illustration by William and Compatibility Methods in Parsons, a report on the Evolution Systematics. In addition there will of Protozoa and other Protists plenty time for contributed papers Meeting last September (p. 7-9), and Greetings for 2005! and, as usual, we will be awarding a personal account of the Phylocode prizes for the best student oral and meeting in Paris in July 2004 (p. 9- The New Year is a time for taking poster presentations. Please note this 12). We also enjoyed reading Maura stock of what has recently past but event in your diaries now. Flannery's piece on Agnes Arber (p. more particularly it is a time for Several changes have taken place 13-17). A hard copy of the looking forward. As I mentioned in amongst the Officers. Donald Systematics Research Fund applica- my introduction to the Summer Quicke and David Williams have tion form is available, and SA pro- Edition, 2004 was a year for navel completed their terms of office as gramme information for 2005 is can gazing. Council reviewed the extent Zoological and Botanical be found in its usual place on the and detail of our activities and Secretaries respectively. Eileen Cox, back page. Our thanks are particu- decided upon a number of innova- after nine years as Programmes larly due to Dr. Rudi Schmid of UC tions. Above all, we were keen to Secretary, has earned a well- Berkeley for providing the photo- engage more frequently with the deserved respite. We offer them our graph of Agnes Arber on p. 14. membership of the Association and warmest thanks for their respective The role of The Systematist with this in mind we instigated 'The contributions and look forward to should be to inform, stimulate and Sir Julian Huxley Lecture' which their continuing support. As a result entertain the membership. Perhaps took place on July 7 at the Linnean of our discussions last year we the best way to ensure that this hap- Society and was followed by a wine decided to dispense with the roles of pens is for SA members to write and reception in the library. This event two of the secretaries and to replace submit articles themselves. We are was such a success that it will now them by a Programmes Secretary always seeking interesting copy and become an annual occurrence - sug- and an Awards and Grants Secretary. arresting images, so please get writ- gestions for speakers and topics are Bill Baker (RBGK) and Tim ing now for the Summer, 2005 always welcome. In 2005 the lecture Littlewood (NHM) respectively issue. We and your colleagues look will take place on July 6 at the have duly been elected to these forward to hearing what you have to Linnean Society. The AGM on positions. Together with the new say, and perhaps to giving our own December 6 2004 was followed by 'ordinary' members of Council we point of view in return. It's one way the annual address given by Joel welcome them on board. to convince the outside world that Cracraft which generated much live- Finally on a purely personal note I our discipline is alive, relevant and ly debate. The following day the have much enjoyed my first year as effective in meeting its challenges. Sixth Young Systematists Forum President of the Association and Hope you all have a systematical- was hosted at the Natural History look to meeting you at the Cardiff ly productive 2005. Museum. As has become customary, Biennial in August. A happy and productive New Year to you all. Cover illustration : “Lucy” Copyright 2005 William Parsons (published with permission). Artistic interpreta- tion of Lucy by William Parsons using a recent skull reconstruction of Australopithecus afarensis and addi- tional soft tissue features implied by a cladistic sister group relationship between humans and orangutans. Barry Leadbeater President The Systematist 2005 No. 24 2 The orangutan and the enigma of human origin John R. Grehan Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, USA Orangutans are our nearest living relatives. That is the unequivocal story of morphological systematics. Ignoring this evidence, in favor of genetic similarity linking humans and chimpanzees, calls into question the continued existence of morphological systematics as a science. ver 20 years ago the chimpanzee relationship rests on ing only if it conforms to a genetic primate and hominid genetics - principally the similarity relationship (Collard and Wood systematist Jeffrey of matching DNA base sequences. 2000; Pilbeam 2000). O Schwartz made a Greater similarities of DNA The subordination of morphology startling and challenging proposition sequences were widely seen by to DNA similarity leaves the scien- that should have turned human evo- geneticists and even morphologists tific study of evolution in a precari- lution upside down. Schwartz pro- to be a reliable predictor of a closer ous position because it would posed that the orangutan (Pongo phylogenetic relationship since appear to invalidate the entire pygmaeus) was more closely related humans and chimpanzees differ by endeavor of morphological system- to humans than were either chim- only about 1.1% of all base atics. What is the answer to this panzees or gorillas. This proposal sequences compared to 2.2% for problem? According to Timothy went against the almost universally humans and orangutans, chim- Littlewood of the Natural History accepted view that the chimpanzee panzees became the nearest relative Museum in London, incongruities is our closest living relative. of choice (Schwartz 1987). The sim- between molecular and morphologi- Schwartz's reasoning was based ilarity of human and chimpanzee cal data highlight the need for addi- on cladistic analysis showing that sequences was seen to be so close tional data rather than representing a barrier to resolving the tree of life (Pennisi 2003). But what is 'more In any other group of organisms the com- data'? parative level of cladistic support for Schwartz's work shows that the orangutans would attract intense scrutiny key might not simply be the addi- and detailed critique. Instead there ensued tion of more data, but the addition of data that comes from asking the two decades of almost total silence. right kind of questions. So the orangutan relationship is more than there are about 40 uniquely shared that some authors called for the just a minor question in systematics. characters between humans and incorporation of both primates with- It reaches into the heart of systemat- orangutans compared with only 7- in the genus Homo (Diamond 1993; ic theory and method, and in turn, 10 uniquely shared between humans Goodman et al. 1998). If the genetic the veracity of evolutionary model- and chimpanzees (Schwartz 1984, relationship is the sole predictor of ing. 1987, 1988, 2001, 2004a). In any phylogeny, as has been widely In this article I will briefly review other group of organisms the com- accepted in primate systematics, the nature of the morphological con- parative level of cladistic support does morphology continue to have nection between humans and for orangutans would attract intense any evolutionary meaning, and can orangutans (defended in detail by scrutiny and detailed critique. morphology continue to exist as a Schwartz 1987, 1988, 2001, 2004a). Instead there ensued two decades of science if it has no predictive I will show that the morphological almost total silence. power? The answer, according to evidence marshaled by Schwartz is The reason for the silence is not some practitioners, is "no" because a better predictor of the hominid hard to find. The foundation of the morphology has evolutionary mean- fossil record than the DNA sequence The Systematist 2005 No. 24 3 support for the chimpanzee. I will incisive foramen, a small opening ductive hormone estriol. also argue that the correlation of liv- (wide in humans, narrow in Humans and orangutans stand ing and fossil morphology supports orangutans) near the front of the apart from chimpanzees, gorillas, the contention of Schwartz (2004a) upper palate, which allows blood gibbons, and most monkey species that morphology need not be subor- vessels and nerves to pass through in having concealed ovulation dinated to DNA sequence similarity from the floor of the nasal cavity. because there is no female genital for the systematic resolution of pri- All other primates, including chim- swelling or color change during the mates or any other group of organ- panzees, have two foramina.