At World's End
Registered Member
Without question, "species" is THE most important category in bio-classification. Now, there have been really big problems on how a species is defined. The layman's definition is "a group of creatures that can interbreed". Well, I think that's a poor definition, because it's not objective enough. Horses and donkeys can only have sterile kids. Lions and tigers sometimes have sterile kids. The way I see it, a species should be based on two simple criteria:
1. Creatures of the same species must RECOGNIZE each other, through some means, that they are of the same kind, and therefore WOULD mate with one another under natural settings.
2. Creatures of the same species must be able to have FULLY fertile kids. In other words, there must not be chromosomal mis-arrangements within a species, which would either always or sometimes cause sterility in the kids should mating occur.
Is my definition good enough?
1. Creatures of the same species must RECOGNIZE each other, through some means, that they are of the same kind, and therefore WOULD mate with one another under natural settings.
2. Creatures of the same species must be able to have FULLY fertile kids. In other words, there must not be chromosomal mis-arrangements within a species, which would either always or sometimes cause sterility in the kids should mating occur.
Is my definition good enough?