>The concept of Species is the same throughout the entire natural world
>whether it is Eubacteria, Fungi or Animalia.
 
Absolutely not true, as the discussions on this list have shown over the
past month.
 
> A species is defined as a population or a group of populations whom exhibit
>similar characteristics,and interbreed with each other, producing
>viable,fertile offspring.  The key word is Fertile!
 
This definition doesn't work for any species that lack sexual reproduction.
For example, bacteria and protozoans that reproduce by splitting in half, or
parthenogenetic species (mollusks and lizards) in which the egg can develop
without being fertilized.
 
We had a symposium on speciation in Philadelphia in 1987, at the museum
where I work. (The results were published as a book in 1989, Speciation and
its consequences, edited by D. Otte and J. Endler.) There were as many
different species concepts as there were people in the room. In general, the
botanists had very different species concepts from the zoologists.
 
Gary
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Gary Rosenberg, Ph.D.                     [log in to unmask]
Malacology & Invertebrate Paleontology    gopher://erato.acnatsci.org
Academy of Natural Sciences               http://www.acnatsci.org
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