Re: labels are imaginary

[Dinogeorge@aol.com]

In a message dated 96-02-05 21:31:19 EST, pharrinj@PLU.edu (Nicholas J.
Pharris) writes:

>Sorry, Mr. Olshevsky.  Thank you for playing.
>
>Sheer numbers of species have little to do with real disparity.  IMHO 
>there is a heck of a lot more disparity between _Deinonychus_ and 
>_Diplodocus_ than between _Deinonychus_ and _Dromaius_.
>
>

There's a heck of a lot less disparity between _Diplodocus_ and
_Titanosaurus_ than there is between _Deinonychus_ and _Dromaius_, or between
_Deinonychus_ and a hummingbird. That's the important disparity here. The
disparity between _Diplodocus_ and _Deinonychus_ is completely irrelevant.
10,000 species makes a bush; 200 species is still only a few twigs.