Here are some ideas for the writing assignment. Each topic is followed by a list of potential outside references. The complete reference will be found in your textbook. You are also free to pick your own taxon and search for your own outside reference. I suggest you plan to read one reference in addition to your text to give you sufficient background to write the essay.

1. The splitting of the order Marsupialia into 4-7 separate orders
   • Ride (1970)
   • Corbet and Hill (1991)
   • Szalay (1994)
   • Woodburne and Case (1996)
   • Lucket (1994)
2. Insectivore classification (general)
   • Butler (1972)
3. Macroscelidea is its own order, not part of the Insectivora
   • Dene et al. (1980)
   • Yates (1984)
4. Scandentia is its own order, not part of Primates
   • Campbell (1974)
5. The debate over the phylogenetic relationship between Megachiropterans and Microchiropterans
   • Baker et al. (1991)
   • Bailey et al. (1992)
   • Simmons (1995)
6. Subdivision of the family Galagonidae
   • Nash et al. (1989)
7. Should Hylobatidea be included as part of Hominidae, or is it its own order
   • Sibley and Ahlquist (1984)
   • Goodman et al. (1990)
8. Are there two species of common chimps, rather than one?
   • Morin et al. (1994)
9. Sloths are two families, not one
   • Webb (1985)
10. Phylogeny of the Xenarthra
    • Engelmann (1985)
11. Is the giant panda a bear?
    • Wozencraft (1993)
12. Is the red panda a procyonid, an ursid or its own family?
    • Wozencraft (1993)
13. Walrus is its own family, not part of Otariidae
    • Repenning (1972) (reference on p. 267 of text)
    • Wozencraft (1989b, 1993)
14. The pinnipeds are part of the order Carnivora, not an order of their own
    • Wozencraft (1989a, 1989b, 1993)
15. Musk deer (Moschidae) are their own family rather than part of the Cervidae
    • Groves and Grubb (1987)
    • Janis and Scott (1987)
16. Other ideas, for which you would have to dig up your own reference:
    • Should non-human apes be included with humans in the family Homonidae?
    • Hyraxes are not rodents, but are phylogenetically related to the Proboscidea
    • There may be two or three species of African elephant, rather than just one