Abstract
IN the course of studies on the taxonomy of Coleoptera, lasting many years and dealing with groups at all levels from sub-orders down to species, it has gradually been borne upon me that taxonomic groups are not usually to be distinguished from the nearest related ones by more than one really constant character. Expressing the same concept in another form, if a taxonomic group is distinguished from related ones by the possession of character A, its constitution will not be quite the same as it would be if it were defined by the possession of character B. From superficial observation, the same principle appears to hold very generally in the animal kingdom, and quite probably among plants as well. Though this circumstance may well be familiar to many taxonomists, it does not appear to have been explicitly recognized as a general principle hitherto; if it is ultimately considered worthy of a name, I suggest ‘the non-congruence principle’.
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CROWSON, R. A Possible New Principle in Taxonomy, and its Evolutionary Implications. Nature 171, 883 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1038/171883a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/171883a0
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