Dear Andrew,
There is no paradox, just a big lie - that classifications based on DNA analysis are wholly objective unlike the horrid subjective classificatons they profess to replace. Truth be told, classifications based on DNA are every bit as subjective as other classifications. Same plants, same DNA, and yet molecular systematists come up with more than one classification.
Thus Robert Dressler and Norris Williams put Oncidium ampliatum into a new monotypic genus Chelyorchis based on DNA. Before the dust settled, Mark Chase and Norris Williams forced the same species into Rossioglossum. Same DNA!
So the splitters and lumpers now defend their positions with DNA. There are still the personal animosities that largely fuel which classification is put forward as this week's final answer.
What a world, what a world, Eric
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