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Ecological and Historic‐Zoogeographic Influences on Concepts of the Genus as Demonstrated in Certain Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera)
Author(s) -
Scherer Gerhard
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
zoologica scripta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.204
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1463-6409
pISSN - 0300-3256
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-6409.1974.tb00749.x
Subject(s) - subgenus , biology , genus , ecology , rank (graph theory) , zoology , evolutionary biology , mathematics , combinatorics
It is proposed that taxonomists make more frequent use of the hierarchic category “subgenus” for classifying infra‐generic groups of species of common phylogenic origin and which share characters in common, rather than to over‐rank such species‐groups as separate genera through unwarranted splitting. Reality of the genus as a biological entity is demonstrated via considerations of geologic, paleoclimatic, and associated ecological phenomena. Geologic events of the Tertiary are used to explain the origin of many of our genera. Examples are given of certain Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) which have evolved at different times and under different circumstances.