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THE HANDLING OF CHARACTER VARIATION IN NUMERICAL TAXONOMY
Author(s) -
McNeill J.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
taxon
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1996-8175
pISSN - 0040-0262
DOI - 10.2307/1218428
Subject(s) - character (mathematics) , variation (astronomy) , taxon , taxonomy (biology) , numerical taxonomy , computer science , biology , ecology , mathematics , physics , geometry , astrophysics
Summary The problem of representing within‐OTU character variability in numerical taxonomy is considered and the limitations inherent in the restriction to single values, for example means or more seriously exemplar individuals, are emphasised. Jardine and Sibson's distinction between the attributes of individuals and the characters of populations or taxa is considered a useful one in its emphasis on the different treatment required for the comparison of individuals as OTUs as against that of groups. Existing methods of handling character variation are outlined and their limitations discussed. A new method, the character‐state frequency procedure, which can readily be incorporated into existing programs, is described and its effects on the analysis of two sets of data are outlined.