Illicit minor

Biological Parallel

'All birds can fly. All birds are animals. Therefore, all animals can fly.' The minor term (animals) is distributed in the conclusion but not the premise. Biological example: 'All observed species in this ecosystem are generalists. All observed species are present. Therefore, all present species are generalists.' The fallacy assumes complete sampling when sampling is partial. Specialists often evade detection. The error: treating observed subset as complete set.