Author's note: these pages were written some years ago. I am not planning to update them. For a more current coverage, see the Palaeos website (to which many links on these pages point to anyway. More info here

Phenetics

Also called numerical taxonomy, Phenetics is a school of taxonomy that classifies organisms on the basis of overall morphological or genetic similarity.  This mainly involves observable similarities and differences irrespective of whether or not the organisms are related   It involves grouping types together in clusters; types with many close relatives would be in a cluster   Unlike cladistics no attempt is made to distinguish between primitive (plesiomorphic) from specialised (derived) characteristics.

A sort of rival to cladistics, Phenetics is pretty much out of fashion nowadays.

Phenetic Taxonomy

 

Systematics

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