Cladistics
In Brief
As part of the University of California Museum of Paleontology Web site, this section offers a brief
introduction to the philosophy, methodology, and implications of cladistic analysis. The cladistics pages are
linked to thousands of other pages on the UCMP Web site about phylogenetics, evolution, and diversity of life.
The
Compleat Cladist
A downloadable PDF version of the widely used college level primer on cladistics
and phylogenetics from the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History. Detailed
explanations are accompanied by chapter notes, references, exercises and quizzes.
(Note: this is a PDF file, which will take time
to download. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it.)
What
Is Cladistics?
This easy to read one-page summary describing cladistics was published in Fossil News, a monthly newsletter with the avocational paleontologist in mind.
Willi Hennig Society
The Willi Hennig Society's Web site includes a detailed explanation of cladistic
classification, links, resources, professional publications and meeting announcements.
The Tree of Life
This is a collection of about 2000 Web pages, hosted by the College of Agriculture
at the University of Arizona, containing information about the diversity of
life. These pages are authored by biologists from around the world.
Animal Diversity
Web
An online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification,
and conservation biology from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
Cladistics : The Theory and Practice of Parsimony Analysis
By Ian J. Kitching (Editor), Peter Forey, and christ Humphries, The Systematics Association Special, No 11, 1998.
A clear, readable and current account of the systematic relationships among organisms and the cladistic methodology used to define them. This is a handy guide for the teacher who wants a thorough understanding of cladistics.
Evolution, Investigating the Evidence
Edited by Judy Scotchmoor and Dale Springer, The Paleontological Society, Special Publication, Volume 9, 1999.
This book is an excellent reference for teachers and includes articles on the origins of life, phylogenetic reconstruction, geologic time and the fossil record, cladistics, evoutionary processes, rates, scales, and diversity, and an exploration of the conflict between modern science and some religious faiths.
Life : A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth
By Richard Fortey, Vintage Books, 1999.
This book provides a richly detailed and well-written account of the history of life on Earth, concentrating on how plants and animals evolved in their varied forms, their colonization of the land, plate tectonics and continental drift, mass extinctions and the diversification of mammals including the human lineage.
The Book of Life: An Illustrated History of the Evolution of Life on Earth, Second Edition
by Stephen Jay Gould (Editor), Peter Andrews, John BarberCon, Jean-Paul Tibbles (Illustrator), and Michael Benton (Contributor), WW Norton & Co., 2001.
This book covers the breadth and minutia of life's evolution beginning with origins and concluding with human impacts on the environment. This book will be a valuable addition to any teacher's reference library.