Comparative biology and the importance of cladistic classification: a case study from the sensory biology of squamate reptiles

Currently a controversy is raging as to which of three competing methodologies of biological classification is the best: phenetics, cladistics, or evolutionary classification. The merits and seeming deficiencies of the three approaches are analyzed. Since classifying is a multiple-step procedure, it is suggested that the best components of the three methods be used at each step. By such a synthetic approach, classifications can be constructed that are equally suited as the basis of generalizations and as an index to information storage and retrieval systems.