Fish species — How and why
Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 9(4):325-352 1999
" It is argued, with selected examples from freshwater fish systematics, that species should be viewed as an expression of self-perpetuated clustered variation in nature, conforming to the phylogenetic species concept. The importance of species lies in the functional and structural significance of their diagnostic characters. Species can be nested by their characters into a tree diagram (phylogeny) or hierarchical alignment structure (classification) of character distribution, which may be taken to reflect evolution, the unifying theory of organismal diversification. The phylogenetic species concept, which emphasizes recognition of a pattern of variation, describes better than any other proposed concept the units called species by systematists. Other concepts are based on processes and normally do not permit recognition of particular taxa. Species have unique histories, and speciation may proceed by different mechanisms. Whereas it may be postulated that speciation entails an irreversible change in the genetic structure of taxa, recognized by phenotypic expression and apparently also maintained to a large extent by selection for a particular phenotype, species recognition must remain independent of assumptions about species history and spatial distribution. Species are monophyletic taxa and the species category does not differ significantly in phylogenetic regard from other systematic categories. Species as such are not necessarily evolutionary units. It is recommended to apply species names with reference to the diagnostic characters of the species and to abandon the type specimen described by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature as a nomenclatural reference unit "
類別: 分類學和系統發育.
語言: English
在參考書目中的物種引用文獻 (1)
Kullander, Sven. 1999. "Fish species — How and why". Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries. 9(4):325-352 (crc05221) (摘要)