22:
366:
One of the roles of taxonomists is to identify wastebasket taxa and reclassify the content into more natural units. Sometimes, during taxonomic revisions, a wastebasket taxon can be salvaged after doing thorough research on its members, and then imposing tighter restrictions on what continues to be
312:. Both of these clades have at times been accused of being wastebasket taxa themselves, grouping superficially similar animals in Euarchonta and Afrotheria, respectively, but they have been more strongly supported by genetic studies.
103:
There are many examples of paraphyletic groups, but true "wastebasket" taxa are those that are known not to, and perhaps not intended to, represent natural groups, but are nevertheless used as convenient groups of organisms. The
108:
are perhaps the most famous example. Wastebasket taxa are often old (and perhaps not described with the systematic rigour and precision that is possible in the light of accumulated knowledge of diversity) and populous.
707:
Chase, Mark W.; Sue
Zmarzty; M. Dolores Lledó; Kenneth J. Wurdack; Susan M. Swensen; Michael F. Fay (2002). "When in doubt, put it in Flacourtiaceae: a molecular phylogenetic analysis based on plastid
60:
that has the purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined by either their designated members' often superficial similarity to each other, or their
756:
Whittaker RH (January 1969). "New concepts of kingdoms or organisms. Evolutionary relations are better represented by new classifications than by the traditional two kingdoms".
377:
name contains too much unrelated "baggage" to be successfully salvaged. As such, it is usually dumped in favour of a new, more restrictive name (for example,
276:
with the aforementioned clades, other mammals historically placed in the order have been found to belong to other branches of the placental tree:
656:
Plotnick, Roy E.; Wagner, Peter J. (2006). "Round up the Usual
Suspects: Common Genera in the Fossil Record and the Nature of Wastebasket Taxa".
605:
Plotnick, Roy E.; Wagner, Peter J. (2006). "Round up the Usual
Suspects: Common Genera in the Fossil Record and the Nature of Wastebasket Taxa".
847:
Cooper, Lisa Noelle; Seiffert, Erik R.; Clementz, Mark; Madar, Sandra I.; Bajpai, Sunil; Hussain, S. Taseer; Thewissen, J. G. M. (2014).
547:"Cladistic analysis of a problematic ammonite group: the Hamitidae (Cretaceous, Albian-Turonian) and proposals for new cladistic terms"
829:
399:, "wastebasket" groupings that are united by gross morphology. This is often result of a common mode of life, often one that is
529:
519:
400:
470:
201:
are fossil groups, banded together back when the limited fossil record did not allow for a more detailed scheme.
240:
has traditionally been used as a dumping ground for placental insectivorous mammals (and similar forms such as
351:
groups that are poorly known due to fragmentary remains are sometimes grouped together on gross morphology or
440:
1022:
1017:
466:"Sequences, stratigraphy and scenarios: what can we say about the fossil record of the earliest tetrapods?"
84:
rules of taxonomy. The name of a wastebasket taxon may in some cases be retained as the designation of an
1012:
122:
778:
910:(Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) and the evolutionary history of Middle–Late Jurassic Chinese sauropods".
445:
29:, probably the best-known wastebasket taxon. The members have little in common apart from being
1007:
773:
167:
is a fungal group, at one point composed of the white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the
323:
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665:
614:
558:
404:
8:
923:
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769:
726:
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410:
The term wastebasket taxon is sometimes employed in a derogatory fashion to refer to an
979:
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906:
Moore, A.J.; Upchurch, P.; Barrett, P.M.; Clark, J.M.; Xing, X. (2020). "Osteology of
984:
939:
888:
849:"Anthracobunids from the Middle Eocene of India and Pakistan Are Stem Perissodactyls"
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that are not plants, animals or fungi i.e., not complex multicellular organisms.
515:
434:
331:
301:
273:
226:
216:
188:
180:
114:
72:
belonging to one or more other taxa. Wastebasket taxa are by definition either
53:
1001:
809:
Young AM (2002). "Brief notes on the status of Family
Hygrophoraceae Lotsy".
423:
319:
257:
221:
571:
546:
355:, only later to be found to be wastebasket taxa, such as the crocodile-like
318:
is an obsolete taxon of worm-like animals. It was a catch-all term used by
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is an artificial clade into which ungulate mammals not clearly within
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81:
30:
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21:
16:
Classification of organisms that do not fit in other classifications
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336:
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is sometimes considered a wastebasket taxon for large, long-necked
285:
265:
249:
141:
26:
348:
315:
293:
268:
and their close relations) do in fact form a consistent clade,
241:
157:
149:
955:"Arizonasaurus and its implications for archosaur divergence"
586:
Gould, S. J. (1985). "Treasures in a taxonomic wastebasket".
383:
261:
153:
57:
846:
80:, and are therefore not considered valid taxa under strict
233:
have been clearly established as early odd-toed ungulates.
905:
253:
514:
959:
Proceedings of the Royal
Society B: Biological Sciences
160:, leaving to the protists all single-celled eukaryotes.
215:
were traditionally shoved. Many of these groups, like
129:
and genera in various other families, especially the
463:
367:included. Such techniques "saved" Carnosauria and
524:. Oxford : Oxford University Press. p. 107.
999:
655:
604:
464:Friedman, M.; Brazeau, M.D (7 February 2011).
403:, leading to generally similar body shapes by
343:
755:
585:
171:not already classified as belonging to the
840:
978:
899:
882:
872:
830:"Phenacodontidae, I feel like I know you"
777:
570:
544:
491:
381:), or abandoned altogether (for example,
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700:
538:
20:
952:
326:for non-arthropod invertebrate animals.
91:The term was coined in a 1985 essay by
1000:
827:
521:Mass extinctions and their aftermath
912:Journal of Systematic Palaeontology
390:
13:
14:
1034:
471:Proceedings of the Royal Society
946:
828:Naish, Darren (8 August 2013).
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1:
953:Nesbitt, Sterling J. (2003).
932:10.1080/14772019.2020.1759706
451:
441:Glossary of scientific naming
395:A related concept is that of
308:, probably forming the clade
256:. While the core components (
874:10.1371/journal.pone.0109232
788:10.1126/science.163.3863.150
7:
417:
344:Wastebasket taxa in science
229:mammals, while others like
98:
10:
1039:
123:Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
117:, a now-defunct family of
518:; Wignall, P. B. (1997).
288:and sometimes grouped in
52:) is a term used by some
244:), usually aligned with
64:of one or more distinct
908:Klamelisaurus gobiensis
811:Australasian Mycologist
572:10.1111/1475-4983.00255
545:Monks, N. (July 2002).
446:Not Otherwise Specified
971:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0066
836:. Scientific American.
484:10.1098/rspb.2010.1321
34:
324:Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
140:The obsolete kingdom
24:
405:convergent evolution
225:, may not represent
1023:Polyphyletic groups
1018:Paraphyletic groups
965:(Suppl 2): S234-7.
924:2020JSPal..18.1299M
865:2014PLoSO...9j9232C
770:1969Sci...163..150W
727:2002KewBu..57..141C
670:2006Pbio...32..126P
619:2006Pbio...32..126P
563:2002Palgy..45..689M
373:. Other times, the
144:is composed of all
1013:Taxonomy (biology)
412:evolutionary grade
272:, that is part of
86:evolutionary grade
35:
918:(16): 1299–1393.
531:978-0-19-854916-1
478:(1704): 432–439.
310:Afroinsectiphilia
93:Stephen Jay Gould
38:Wastebasket taxon
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834:Tetrapod Zoology
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764:(3863): 150–60.
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711:DNA sequences".
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391:Related concepts
280:and colugos are
165:Tricholomataceae
119:flowering plants
66:character states
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859:(10): e109232.
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779:10.1.1.403.5430
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627:10.1666/04056.1
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588:Natural History
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379:Rhynchocephalia
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302:elephant shrews
213:Cetartiodactyla
125:has placed its
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50:catch-all taxon
40:(also called a
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5:
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721:(1): 141–181.
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664:(1): 126–146.
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613:(1): 126–146.
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557:(4): 689–707.
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435:Incertae sedis
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332:Mamenchisaurus
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274:Laurasiatheria
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231:phenacodontids
227:laurasitherian
217:Meridiungulata
209:Perissodactyla
202:
192:
189:Entolomataceae
181:Hygrophoraceae
161:
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115:Flacourtiaceae
100:
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56:to refer to a
42:wastebin taxon
15:
9:
6:
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1008:Obsolete taxa
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424:Lazarus taxon
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320:Carl Linnaeus
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222:Protungulatum
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148:that are not
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46:dustbin taxon
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23:
19:
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714:Kew Bulletin
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370:Megalosaurus
368:
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353:stratigraphy
347:
330:
298:golden moles
282:euarchontans
270:Eulipotyphla
220:
205:Condylarthra
102:
90:
78:polyphyletic
74:paraphyletic
69:
68:or by their
61:
49:
45:
41:
37:
36:
18:
817:(3): 114–6.
429:Elvis taxon
290:Sundatheria
284:related to
278:tree shrews
246:carnivorans
238:Insectivora
199:Thecodontia
195:Carnosauria
177:Lepiotaceae
173:Amanitaceae
131:Achariaceae
88:, however.
54:taxonomists
25:Collage of
1002:Categories
516:Hallam, A.
452:References
401:generalist
397:form taxon
361:Rauisuchia
329:The genus
306:afrotheres
236:The order
185:Pluteaceae
169:Agaricales
146:eukaryotes
135:Salicaceae
106:acritarchs
940:219749618
774:CiteSeerX
375:taxonomic
337:dinosaurs
266:hedgehogs
250:ungulates
82:cladistic
31:Eukaryota
989:14667392
893:25295875
853:PLOS ONE
694:86606882
643:86606882
594:: 22–33.
502:20739322
418:See also
357:Triassic
304:are all
292:, while
286:Primates
142:Protista
99:Examples
27:Protista
980:1809943
920:Bibcode
884:4189980
861:Bibcode
796:5762760
766:Bibcode
758:Science
743:4110825
723:Bibcode
686:4096821
666:Bibcode
635:4096821
615:Bibcode
559:Bibcode
493:3013411
414:taxon.
294:tenrecs
242:colugos
150:animals
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359:group
349:Fossil
316:Vermes
262:shrews
154:plants
127:tribes
121:– the
936:S2CID
739:JSTOR
690:S2CID
682:JSTOR
639:S2CID
631:JSTOR
384:Simia
258:moles
187:, or
158:fungi
58:taxon
985:PMID
889:PMID
792:PMID
709:rbcL
526:ISBN
498:PMID
322:and
300:and
254:bats
252:and
197:and
163:The
133:and
113:The
62:lack
975:PMC
967:doi
963:270
928:doi
879:PMC
869:doi
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219:or
211:or
156:or
76:or
70:not
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191:.
137:.
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