Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles
Published on: July 11, 2025
Monotypic genera: uninformative, but sometimes necessary
Andrew V Z Brower1,2,3
1National Identification Services, Plant Protection and Quarantine, USDA-APHIS, Frederick, Maryland, USA.
Abstract:
Monotypic genera are undesirable from a cladistic perspective because they are not clades and therefore cannot be diagnosed by synapomorphies. They are undesirable from a nomenclatural perspective because their names obscure the relationship of the contained species to other species, thereby negating the semantic value of the generic name. This essay reviews situations in which monotypic genera are required by the structure of a cladogram, and situations in which they have apparently been erected on phenetic or evolutionary taxonomic considerations. A case study from Hesperiidae (skipper butterflies) is presented.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Bacterial Phylum Tenericutes
Microbial Classification System
Modern Molecular Taxonomy
Diversity of Protists I
Bacterial Phylum Firmicutes
Bacterial Phylum Actinobacteria

