Several influential discussions of the general species concept that became established during the modern synthesis empha. A species concept that works well for sexually reproducing organisms such as birds is useless for species that reproduce asexually, such as bacteria. To differentiate between different types of living organisms, species is used as the principal natural unit in biology. It says that a species is a species if it is a lineage, however you define lineage. The general lineage concept of species, species chteria. Species are often defined as a group of individuals with similar characteristics, where they can interbreed to produce fertile offsprings. If a species concept specifies conditions that are. The other concepts of species are operational and restrict ones ability to appreciate diversity. Species, unlike other taxa, are not only an outcome ofevolu tion, they actually function in a direct way in the evolutionary process. Like the general phylogenetic species concepts, the. Donoghue should be applied to cases involving units less inclusive than species.
It certainly is appropriate to distinguish among entities resulting from common descent involving different kinds of units. The general lineage concept of species, species chteria, and the. Although the general metapopulation lineage species concept and mayrs. The general lineage concept of species, species criteria.
Nonetheless, all share the fundamental idea that species are segments of lineages at the population level of biological organization. The species problem is the set of questions that arises when biologists attempt to define what a species is. Editors choice journal of mammalogy oxford academic. Primary concept of species the ideas abstracted here give us a single primary concept of species.
The division of amphibians and reptiles is devoted to herpetology, the scientific study of amphibians and reptiles, and to building and maintaining preserved collections of those animals, which are used in research by the staff of the division as well as herpetologists throughout the world. It should encompass the biological, phylogenetic, and all species concepts. The result is a general and unified concept of species. A quick search suggests that the general lineage species concept is meant to unify all species concepts together. This is a nonoperational concept but this is a needed quality of a theoretical concept of natural entities. Wilson professor, division of nematology, university of california, davis, ca 956 16. Associate professor, department of entomology, university of california, davis, ca 956 16.
On the integrated frameworks of species concepts entomologia. Integration, individuality and species concepts springerlink. Adopting this general concept of species, if two taxonomists disagreed on. Integrative biology 200a principles of phylogenetics. All of these ideas conform to a single general concept under which.
Reprinted from vkislas on nemtology concepts and principles of population dynamics h. Although they are not completely identical, all three define the species category essentially as separately evolving population or meta. The general lineage concept of species and the properties. Genealogical concept species are mutually monophyletic in the baum and shaw genealogies at all or at a consensus of 1995 gene genealogies in the genome general lineage species are independent lineages. Species are one of the fundamental units of comparison in virtually all subfields of biology, from anatomy to behavior, development, ecology, evolution, genetics, molecular biology, paleontology, physiology, and systematics. Pdf a unified concept of species and its consequences. Once one has decided what taxon names are to represent in general, then species taxa.
A conceptual unification and terminological recommendations. The general lineage concept of species, species criteria, and the process of speciation. A population is a collection of individu als of a single species of organisms spatially. Concept of species evolutionary and biological species. The general lineage concept of species and the defining properties of the species category. Species concepts and species delimitation systematic. However, under a more basic view of species, each of these can be viewed as not necessary, but rather contingent upon history and circumstances. Properties or the converses of properties that represent thresholds crossed by diverging lineages and that are commonly viewed as necessary properties of species are marked with an asterisk.
The conclusions set forth aboveylead to a belief in the reality of species poulton, 1904. In a general and nontechnical sense, species are kinds of organisms. He has worked in the phylogenetics and evolutionary biology of squamate reptiles, the development of a unified species concept and of a phylogenetic approach to biological nomenclature, and the philosophy of systematic biology. Different species concepts often refer to different stages during speciation. Reconciliation of incompatible species definitions and the development of a unified species concept require rejecting the interpretation of various contingent. The general lineage concept of species and the defining. An annotated list of species concepts springerlink. Department of vertebrate zoology, national museum of natural history. Pdf a unified concept of species and its consequences for tlie. Species concept, species criteria, species delimitation. Ernst mayr played a central role in the establishment of the general concept of species as metapopulation lineages, and he is the author of one of the most popular of the numerous alternative definitions of the species category. Pdf species concepts and species delimitation researchgate. However, his definition of species concept as idea about the kind of entity represented by the species category is not distinct enough to be helpful.
Reality is typically used to support ones own species concept, as in. Thus, the concept itself is egalitarian in its treatment of species delimitation criteria. This view equates species with segments of population lineages. The person you should ask is the person who wrote your exam. By using the name of a particular species concept, researchers are usually. This fresh collection of essays, drawn from a broad range of disciplines, brings neglected cognitive, anthropological, and historical dimensions to philosophical debates over species. In large part, the importance of species in biology derives from their importance in systematics, which is responsible for the taxonomic framework used in all branches of. This general species concept, not mayrs more restricted species definition, is the true biological species concept see below. The species as a family resemblance concept inaddition todisagreementabout the necessaryproperties of species, there is also disagreement concerning the processes responsible for. The concept of species has played a central role in both evolutionary biology and the philosophy of biology, and has been the focus of a number of books in recent years. Species delimitation under the general lineage concept.
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