Editing Affinity (taxonomy)
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==Basis== |
==Basis== |
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In [[ |
In [[taxonomy]] the basis of any particular type of classification is the ''way in which objects in the domain resemble each other''. A resemblance of a type that seems appropriate to the classification that we propose, we may call an '''''affinity''''', and when we decide how to classify say, a specimen of rock or butterfly, we justify our decision according to the affinities that we observe. |
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Other resemblances we dismiss as being out of context or at least non-cogent; for example, in deciding whether to classify a lizard as having closer affinities to a snake than to a table, biologists rely on affinities such as the scales, blood, physiology, vertebral anatomy, and reproductive system as being more relevant than the possession of four "feet". |
Other resemblances we dismiss as being out of context or at least non-cogent; for example, in deciding whether to classify a lizard as having closer affinities to a snake than to a table, biologists rely on affinities such as the scales, blood, physiology, vertebral anatomy, and reproductive system as being more relevant than the possession of four "feet". |