paraphyletic, a. Taxon.
(pærəfaɪˈlɛtɪk)
[f. para-1 1 + phyletic a.]
Of a group of taxa: containing some but not all of the descendants of a common ancestor, esp. when the group has been considered a taxon on the basis of shared primitive characteristics. Cf. polyphyletic a.
| 1965 W. Hennig in Ann. Rev. Entomol. X. 104 If one associates species whose agreement rests on symplesiomorphy, then a paraphyletic group is formed. 1972 Evolutionary Biol. VI. xi. 344 One will notice..that the phylogenetic relationships brought out above lead to the suppression of the concept Prosimii, a composite (or better, ‘paraphyletic’ in Hennig's terminology) assemblage. 1979 Nature 6 Sept. 88/1 The Apterygota, Palaeoptera and Exopterygota are regarded as paraphyletic and discarded, although the Entognathan apterygotes are treated as a natural group. 1983 E. C. Minkoff Evolutionary Biol. xxii. 367 Eclectic (Evolutionary) Taxonomy... Taxa should not be polyphyletic but may be paraphyletic. 1988 Zool. Jrnl. Linn. Soc. XCII. 331 These results strongly support the hypothesis that the traditionally defined Capitonidae is paraphyletic. |