Cladistics for the Practicing Taxonomist-An Eclectic View

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Abstract
An outline of the use of character compatibility analysis as an aid in taxonomic studies is given through a summary of phenetic and cladistic analyses of the Ranunculus hispidus complex. These results form a basis for discussing cladograms as an aid in the formulation of a classification. Simpson''s concept of consistency is more desirable for analyzing a cladogram and its correspondence to a classification than is the sister group criterion of Hennig. Any classification is consistent (in Simpson''s sense) with what is known about phylogeny if all the classes in the classification are convex. Convex, as applied to fully resolved cladograms, is operationally defined. Several examples, including studies of the Ranunculus hispidus complex, demonstrate the nature of convex groups, traditional classification, and cladograms. The use of the more flexible consistency criterion with an eclectic view of classification in which numerous lines of evidence can be helpful in understanding the taxonomic and evolutionary relationships of organisms is advocated.