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Science 30 October 1981:
Vol. 214. no. 4520, pp. 510 - 516
DOI: 10.1126/science.214.4520.510
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Articles

Biological Classification: Toward a Synthesis of Opposing Methodologies

Ernst Mayr 1

1 Alexander Agassiz Professor Emeritus, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Currently a controversy is raging as to which of three competing methodologies of biological classification is the best: phenetics, cladistics, or evolutionary classification. The merits and seeming deficiencies of the three approaches are analyzed. Since classifying is a multiple-step procedure, it is suggested that the best components of the three methods be used at each step. By such a synthetic approach, classifications can be constructed that are equally suited as the basis of generalizations and as an index to information storage and retrieval systems.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)