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The Hierarchies in Biological Systematics: A Conceptual Perspective examines the diverse hierarchies shaping the field of biology. From the overarching cognitive frameworks to the specific classifications that define biological taxonomy, this book is a comprehensive analysis of hierarchical structures and their inherent complexities.
Through a conceptual lens, the author explores the fundamental parameters of hierarchies, their fuzziness, and the principles guiding their substantiation, elaboration, and implementation. The book also delves into the ongoing debate between ranked and rankless taxonomic hierarchies, highlighting the author's view of the unique rationality of ranked systems while critically assessing their limitations.
Whether you are a researcher, student, or professional in biological systematics, this book offers valuable insights into the conceptual underpinnings of hierarchical classifications and their role in advancing scientific understanding.
List of contents
Chapter 1. A historical consideration
1.1. A brief overview
1.2. The roots: folk systematics
1.3. The Antique hierarchical systems
1.4. Towards the deductive genus-species scheme
1.5. The development of ranked taxonomic hierarchy
1.6. Against taxonomic hierarchy and/oritsranking
1.7. A brief history of meronomic hierarchies
Chapter 2. Some philosophical considerations
2.1. The hierarchical structure of cognitive situation
2.2. The hierarchies of reduction cascades
2.3. Some comments on the notions and definitions
2.4. The pyramids of reasoning: logics, methodologies, methods
2.5. The hierarchies of taxonomic theories
2.6. On the objectivity and subjectivity of hierarchies and ranks
2.7. The importance of being a system
2.8. A few words about structuralism
Chapter 3. The hierarchies as they are
3.1. Basic features of hierarchies
3.2. More on onto-epistemic dualism of hierarchies
3.3. The hierarchies topology
3.4. Levelism
3.5. Fuzzy hierarchies
3.6. Hierarchization of classification systems
3.7. To rank or not to rank: the contemporary debates
Chapter 4. The hierarchies representations
4.1. The text-like style
4.2. The tree-like style
4.3. The plane-like style
4.4. From classifications to representations and back again
Chapter 5. Two important conceptual pyramids: species and homology
5.1. The species problem
5.2. The homology problem
Chapter 6. Taxonomic hierarchy and nomenclature
6.1. Taxonomic theory and nomenclature
6.2. The hierarchies of regulative nomenclature
6.3. Rank-dependent nomenclature
6.4. Rank-independent nomenclature
About the author
Igor Ya. Pavlinov was, until his retirement in 2018, leading researcher and the chief of the Mammal Division at the Zoological Museum at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. He is still affiliated with the Zoological Museum, where he is a curator of mammals. His DrS dissertation was
Cladistic approach to phylogenetics and systemayics: Theoretical foundations of evolutionary cladistics (1997). His principal research interests are in theoretical systematics and phylogenetics, systematics of mammals (mainly rodents), and morphometrics. He is the author of several dozen books on natural history, including:
Cladistic Analysis: Methodological Issues (1990),
Evolution of Life (2001),
Systematics of Mammals of the World (2003),
Foundations
of the Contemporary Phylogenetics (2005),
Nomenclature in Systematics (2015) and its successor
Taxonomic nomenclature - What's in a name: Theory and History (2022),
Foundations of Biological Systematics (2018) and its successor
Biological Systematics: History and Theory (2021),
Mammals of Russia: A Guide (2019),
The Species Problem. A Conceptual History (2023), several books on particular orders and families of mammals, etc.
