"The order is not as important as what defines both or what separates
sub-family from tribe and tribe from genera? What separates tribe from
genera?

Harry B."

I've  wondered about this myself.  The grouping of a number of similat
genera into a "tribe" often seems to be a semi-arbitrary process, with
frequent disagreements amongst the experts in a given field.  A better
question may be "If you have a group of genera which you deem
sufficiently similar to warrent grouping them together in a less than
family - oriented manner, how do you decide whether to call the
resulting taxa a "tribe" (a term very seldom used in molluscan taxonomy,
for some reason), or a "sub-family"??  Is there any hard and fast
difference between the two taxonomic categories, other than that the
"tribe " is deemed to be a slightly more cohesive or tighter grouping
than that of "sub-family"?

Any takers?

From the Great Semi-White North,
Ross Mayhew.
http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com/

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