Comments on: What do genus names mean to us? http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/762 "truly pathetic verbiage" Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:12:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Kehan http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/762/comment-page-1#comment-4176 Kehan Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:07:01 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=762#comment-4176 I did a few queries on the genera in grassbase (http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-syn) a few years ago, and the number of species per genus seems to follow a power law (ie if you plot logs of no of speces per genus against the number of genera that have this number you get a straight line. Long tail strikes again ;) I did a few queries on the genera in grassbase (http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-syn) a few years ago, and the number of species per genus seems to follow a power law (ie if you plot logs of no of speces per genus against the number of genera that have this number you get a straight line. Long tail strikes again ;)

]]> By: Roger Hyam http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/762/comment-page-1#comment-3728 Roger Hyam Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:29:13 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=762#comment-3728 <a href="#comment-3727" rel="nofollow">@Karen Cranston</a> The more I think about this the more I think they are related. Take any accepted genus and there is an 81% chance it will be the size that we can fit in working memory and a 93% chance it will be a size we can get our heads round with a bit of study - or smaller. @Karen Cranston

The more I think about this the more I think they are related. Take any accepted genus and there is an 81% chance it will be the size that we can fit in working memory and a 93% chance it will be a size we can get our heads round with a bit of study – or smaller.

]]> By: Karen Cranston http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/762/comment-page-1#comment-3727 Karen Cranston Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:43:43 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=762#comment-3727 I wonder if the working memory limit has historically influenced how many species we are willing to lump together to define a genus? I wonder if the working memory limit has historically influenced how many species we are willing to lump together to define a genus?

]]> By: Roger Hyam http://www.hyam.net/blog/archives/762/comment-page-1#comment-3723 Roger Hyam Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:26:00 +0000 http://www.hyam.net/blog/?p=762#comment-3723 Looking back at this 81% of genera have < working memory species in them. So if you have a genus name the chances are you have access to a list of things you can hold in your mind. Either that or you have access to a list of things you can't hold in your mind at one go but can probably generalise about. 80/20 rule? Looking back at this 81% of genera have < working memory species in them. So if you have a genus name the chances are you have access to a list of things you can hold in your mind. Either that or you have access to a list of things you can’t hold in your mind at one go but can probably generalise about. 80/20 rule?

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