| Abstract Detail
Colloquium in Honor of John McNeill Dickinson, Tim [1]. John McNeill, numerical taxonomy, and character variation and variability. An aspect of John McNeill's career not explicitly mentioned by the Colloquium organizers is his prominence as a numerical taxonomist. Among other things he is among a small number of botanical numerical taxonomists who have concerned themselves with the problem of within-OTU variation in characters. Using his contributions in this area as a point of departure I will elaborate on the value of this concern, and on some of the ways it has been relevant to understanding evolution in, and hence the systematics of, the genus Crataegus (Rosaceae). Much of the taxonomic complexity of hawthorns has been due to ambiguity about the taxonomic level to which observed morphological variation should be assigned. Not only that, an examination of patterns of variability in the genus can suggest possible explanations for evolutionary novelties, such as the reduced stamen number found in most tetraploid but few, if any, diploid Crataegus cytotypes. Broader Impacts:
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1 - Royal Ontario Museum, Natural History, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, ON, M5S 2C6, Canada
Keywords:
numerical taxonomy
variability
Crataegus.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: C3
Location: Delaware D/Hyatt
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2012
Time: 4:45 PM
Number: C3011
Abstract ID:704 |
