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Following a trend seen in the last two World Congresses, the dominance of
cladograms, molecular datasets, and combined analyses was striking. The routine
utilization of modern comparative methods and molecular datasets are now
providing critical reassessments of earlier, less rigorous attempts to divine
molluscan relationships. What was unexpected was the number of papers that
deconstructed some of the long-established and seemingly sacrosanct familiar
groupings—the very suggestion of which would have been viewed as systematic
heresy just a few short years ago. Some of these groups
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have been recognized since Aristotle, and their demise as non-evolutionary lineages was
unanticipated by most of the symposium participants. The theme of deconstruction
reverberated throughout the symposium and generated lively discussion rather
than outright rejection. However, there was another more common theme that
focused on the cautionary note: “more data is needed.”
 For more
information on the Symposium, visit
here.
 September, 2004
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