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Subsets are a thing in biology as well. (lemm.ee)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] [S] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

What I'm getting at is taxonomy. A valid taxon has to include all descendents of the crown group. That means that for monkeys to constitute a valid taxon, apes must be included. Same reason why birds are technically dinosaurs.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    A monophyletic clade must include all descendants. A taxonomic group itself can hold anything.

    Viruses can also integrate DNA into cells and it sticks there forever sometimes, thus bypassing the tree entirely (making it a network, i.e. no longer acyclic thus no longer a tree).

    There is a lot of weirdness in the world, stranger than people have dreamed.:-P

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Fair enough. I just belong to the people who require a valid taxon to be monophyletic. (Btw., "clade" already implies monophyleti...city? Monophyleticness?)

    Also, shut up about viruses, they make a mess of everything and are beautifully chaotic and I hate them and I love them. xD

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