Memeticemetic
New Member
Squawk said:Just a quick note, species is not defined by two organisms that can interbreed (are two human men the same species) but whether or not gene transfer can occur through the population.
The chiwawa and great dane probably can't mate, but a great dane can probably mate with a collie, which can probably mate with a chiwawa, hence not different species.
There is no line when specation occurs. Species is useful for defining a present state, can it occur now, but not so useful for determining when speciation takes place. Speciation, by its very nature, is a tricky thing to pin down. Extinction of intermediates in ring species would nail it down, but thats about it.
Species is an attempt to classify a continuous variable, to break it up into chunks.
Okay, then... would that mean we could properly define chihuahuas, collies, and great danes as ring species? Or am I way off base on that?