What’s in a name? Jared Diamond XXXXXXXXXXsuggests that if we follow the naming traditions of cladistic taxonomy, then humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos should all be considered members of a single genus. Diamond proposes calling these species, respectively, Homo sapiens, Homo troglodytes, and Homo paniscus. Jonathan Marks XXXXXXXXXXobjects to Diamond’s taxonomic reasoning. Concerning the nature of humans and apes, Marks asserts that “Popular works tell us we are not merely genetically apes but that we are literally apes (e.g., Diamond XXXXXXXXXXSometimes there is profundity in absurdity, but I don’t think this is one of those times. It merely reflects the paraphyletic nature of the category ‘apes’—humans are apes, but only in the same sense that pigeons are reptiles and horses are fish.... Focusing on the genetic relations obscures biologically significant patterns of phenotypic divergence.” Do you think humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos should all be classified as members of the same genus? Is there more at stake in the disagreement between Diamond and Marks than just Latin names? If so, what?
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