Hello

Generally spoken comparisons of distances within species to distances among species are more reliable if we have good proxies of intra- versus interspecific variability, thats clear.

If now among many compared species a single species is represented by only a single specimen I would nevertheless calculate the values. (By the way a higher number of representatives, if derived from a single Population often hide the fact, that the Proxy for intraspecific variability is not much better than in datasets containing a single specimen).

I would say more important is the way we discuss such data.

If you have a dataset that does not give a good estimate for intraspecific Variation, this should be clearly stated in your discussion of your data. then as a reviewer i would have no Problems with analyses that reflect our current knowledge.

greetings

nikola

Thanks Nikola. Would consider your point of view.