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You’re right that is what makes a tree. But don’t you feel that it’s obvious that different lineages of plants could acquire, and lose, woodenness independently
by da39a3ee 5y ago
You’re right that is what makes a tree. But don’t you feel that it’s obvious that different lineages of plants could acquire, and lose, woodenness independently of each other? And therefore 100% unsurprising that “tree” is not a monophyletic group.
- asimpletune 5y agoAfter reading this article yes, but obvious? No at all.
- williamdclt 5y agoDefinitely not obvious. I have no idea how complex "woodiness" is, evolutionarily. It's like if you asked me "don’t you feel that it’s obvious that different lineages of animals could acquire, and lose, feathers independently of each other": probability is certainly non-zero but is it negligible or is it actually likely? No idea, I'm not an evolutionary biologist, and would read an article about it with interest
- yxhuvud 5y agoIt is obvious that it can happen, but it is not obvious how common it seems to be.