On the number of categories in biological classifications

Title Variants

Alternative: Biological classifications

Related Titles

Series: American Museum novitates, no. 2584

By

Anderson, Sydney, 1927-2018

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

New York, N.Y, American Museum of Natural History, c1975

Notes

Title from caption.

"August 19, 1975."

"The theoretical maximum and minimum numbers, and the most probable numbers, of categories to be recognized in classifications designed to express all cladistic information in groups of different sizes are derived by Monte Carlo models based on a theoretical distribution that fits real taxonomic data. The number of categories required is much nearer the minimum possible number than the maximum possible; usually 11 to 16 categories will be needed for a group of 100, 21 to 26 for a group of 1000, and 26 to 36 for a group of 10,000. The number of categories required for a group of a certain size increases as the percentage of the members of that group that are extinct increases"--P. [1].

Subjects

Biology , Classification , Mathematical models , Monte Carlo method

Call Number

QL1 .A436 no.2584, 1975

Language

English

Identifiers

LCCN: https://lccn.loc.gov/76359871
OCLC: 2225227