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Revision as of 19:28, 19 July 2004 by 69.19.144.145 (talk) (minor: fixed spelling errors of the words 'ancestry' and 'ancestral.')(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Baraminology is a method of biological taxonomy proposed by some creationists.
Origin of the term
The term baraminology was originally proposed by Kurt P. Wise in 1990 to cover the study of baramins - in turn a word proposed by Frank L. Marsh in 1941 derived from the Hebrew words bara (create) and min (kind) to represent the different kinds described in the Bible in the Genesis descriptions of the creation and Noah's Ark, and the Leviticus and Deuteronomy division between clean and unclean.
Methodological terms
Baraminology aims to use four terms to distinguish kinds or groups: holobaramin, monobaramin, apobaramin, and polybaramin.
Holobaramin
A holobaramin is a entire group (past and present) sharing a common ancestry, and therefore a genetic relationship. For example, humans form a holobaramin, since (in creationist theory) they were created as a single kind and therefore share no ancestral or genetic relationship with other animals.
By contrast, the posutulate of universal common descent in the theory of evolution would suggest that there is only one holobaramin covering all organisms.
Monobaramin
A monobaramin is a part of a holobaramin. So, for example, dogs could be seen as a monobaramin from the holobaramin of the dog kind which originally included wolves.
Apobaramin
An apobaramin is a number of complete holobaramins grouped together. For example, all plants together would form an apobaramin since (in creationist theory) they were not a single kind of plant at the moment of their creation (at least fruit-bearing plants and grass can be distinguished) but there is no single holobaramin which includes some plants and animals.
Polybaramin
A polybaramin is a group made up of parts of different holobaramins. For example, the mammals currently alive in North America would form a polybaramin.