DESCENT AND LOGIC IN BIOSYSTEMATICS THOMAS MCCABE PERSEVERANT PUBLISHING Title: Descent and Logic in Biosystematics Author: Thomas McCabe Publisher: Perseverant Publishing © COPYRIGHT 2021 THOMAS MCCABE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ISBN: 978-0-578-75848-0 (electronic book) Electronic book, PDF format Language: English Keywords: biophilosophy, biosystematics, cladistics, conservation, Darwin, development, evolution, Homo sapiens, hybrid, Lamarck, Linnaeus, logic, ontogenesis, phylogenetics, phylogenomics, phylogeny, speciation, species, species concept, taxonomy Library of Congress Subject Headings: Biology, Philosophy, Logic For permission to use material in this book beyond fair use allowed by United States Copyright Law, contact Perseverant Publishing: www.PerseverantPublishing.com DESCENT AND LOGIC IN BIOSYSTEMATICS TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 • ABOUT THIS BOOK ............................................................................................ 7 Synopsis .......................................................................................................... 8 2 • SOME PRELIMINARIES ..................................................................................... 11 Living being or nonliving thing? .................................................................. 11 Biological properties, dispositions, and features .......................................... 11 Expression of a disposition ........................................................................... 12 Judged similarity, dissimilarity, and intermediacy ....................................... 13 3 • DESCENT AND ONTOGENESIS .......................................................................... 15 Uniparental and biparental generative events ............................................... 15 Direct or indirect genealogical linkage ......................................................... 16 Lineage-segment, lineage, pedigree, and pedigreeable collection ................ 16 Internal genealogical continuity .................................................................... 17 Population ..................................................................................................... 18 Reproductive relationships of biparental reproducers .................................. 18 Genetic transfer ............................................................................................. 19 Ontogenesis, life cycle, and ontogenetic stages ............................................ 20 4 • BIOLOGICAL TAXONOMY OBSERVED ............................................................. 21 Part 1 • Microtaxonomy: Defining, Naming, and Identifying.................... 21 Linneon and natural species .......................................................................... 21 Defining each linneon taxonomically ........................................................... 22 Naming linneons ........................................................................................... 23 Analysis of two linneon definitions .............................................................. 24 Identifying and assigning a specimen ........................................................... 26 Rejecting a specimen from a linneon ............................................................ 28 Formal taxonomic revision ........................................................................... 29 Describing variant kinds within a linneon .................................................... 30 Part 2 • Macrotaxonomy: Classifying and Hypothesizing ......................... 31 Macrotaxonomic discordance ....................................................................... 31 Relating macrotaxonomy and microtaxonomy ............................................. 32 5 • LINNEON DEFINITION AMBIGUITIES .............................................................. 33 Missing quantifier ......................................................................................... 33 Spatiotemporal ambiguity ............................................................................. 34 Singular-collective ambiguity ....................................................................... 34 Compound linneon definition ....................................................................... 34 Inconspicuous alternatives ............................................................................ 35 6 • MUTUAL EXCLUSIVENESS AND NONEXCLUSIVENESS .................................... 37 Custom of avoiding mutual nonexclusiveness of linneon definitions .......... 37 Mutual exclusiveness .................................................................................... 37 Testing for mutual nonexclusiveness ............................................................ 39 Eliminating mutual nonexclusiveness ........................................................... 40 3 DESCENT AND LOGIC IN BIOSYSTEMATICS TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 • INTERPRETING MICROTAXONOMY ................................................................. 43 Morphology and genealogy .......................................................................... 43 A minimal natural species concept ............................................................... 43 Hypotheses not in the minimal concept ........................................................ 45 Linneon–natural species correspondence conjectures .................................. 47 Taxonomic circumscription .......................................................................... 48 8 • OUR HISTORICAL NATURAL SPECIES ............................................................. 51 Historical knowledge and our historical natural species ............................... 51 Some hypotheses about our historical natural species .................................. 51 Hypotheses not made about our historical natural species ........................... 53 Defining Homo sapiens taxonomically ......................................................... 53 Taxonomic definitions for Homo sapiens are incomplete ............................ 54 An imaginary expanded definition for Homo sapiens .................................. 56 9 • NONHUMAN MICROTAXONOMY ...................................................................... 57 Well-formed linneon definition .................................................................... 57 Why avoid nonexclusiveness of linneon definitions? ................................... 57 Maximum diagnosability strategy ................................................................. 58 A conventional limit to the use of genealogy for assigning .......................... 59 Linneon boundary ......................................................................................... 60 Categorizing a successful crossing ............................................................... 61 Categorizing a hybrid .................................................................................... 61 Mixed pedigreeable collection ...................................................................... 62 Categorizing a hybrid zone ........................................................................... 62 Categorizing introgression ............................................................................ 63 Biological considerations .............................................................................. 63 10 • ASSESSING REPORTED OFFICIAL HETEROSPECIFICITY .............................. 65 The assessment method ................................................................................. 65 Assessing related taxonomic decisions ......................................................... 66 11 • LINNEON INTERNAL GENEALOGICAL DISCONTINUITY ................................ 68 About internal genealogical discontinuity .................................................... 68 Confirming linneon internal genealogical discontinuity ............................... 69 Eliminating an instance of linneon internal genealogical discontinuity ....... 71 Anticipating linneon genealogical discontinuity........................................... 73 12 • SEQUENTIAL SPECIATION MODELS .............................................................. 74 Three organismal models of sequential speciation ....................................... 74 The models and the minimal natural species concept ................................... 78 Categorizing sequential speciation ............................................................... 78 Some characteristics shared by the three models .......................................... 80 Sequential speciation and natural species evolution ..................................... 83 13 • SEQUENTIAL LINNEON ARRIVAL .................................................................. 84 A method for seeking anagenetic sequential linneon arrival ........................ 84 Assessing a reported occurrence of linneon arrival ...................................... 85 4 DESCENT AND LOGIC IN BIOSYSTEMATICS TABLE OF CONTENTS 14 • SEEKING A SEQUENTIAL SPECIATION EVENT .............................................. 88 Novelty .......................................................................................................... 88 A suggested method to seek sequential speciation ....................................... 89 An imaginary scenario .................................................................................. 90 Limits of the suggested method .................................................................... 92 Failure of the method ...................................................................................