What is a species?
New species of lifeforms are being discovered and described on our planet every single day -- but, when we talk about a species, what are we really referring to? Turns out, the answer is......
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In your high school Biology class, You most likely learned that the definition of a species is: [text onscreen] It sounds pretty straight forward, right? Well, in the world of taxonomy, which is the branch of science responsible for classifying organisms, This is known as the Biological Species Concept, This is only one of as many as a few dozen such concepts used by taxonomists when describing a new species today. So, why are there so many interpretations? For starters, Charles Darwin, himself, didn't give a concrete definition of a species in: "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, and the word species is in the title of the book. He wrote: [text onscreen] Darwin basically said, "Meh, you'll probably know it when you see it." I...
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In your high school Biology class, You most likely learned that the definition of a species is: [text onscreen] It sounds pretty straight forward, right? Well, in the world of taxonomy, which is the branch of science responsible for classifying organisms, This is known as the Biological Species Concept, This is only one of as many as a few dozen such concepts used by taxonomists when describing a new species today. So, why are there so many interpretations? For starters, Charles Darwin, himself, didn't give a concrete definition of a species in: "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, and the word species is in the title of the book. He wrote: [text onscreen] Darwin basically said, "Meh, you'll probably know it when you see it." I...
