RE: The Great Debate.
January 3, 2014 at 4:13 pm
(This post was last modified: January 3, 2014 at 4:15 pm by pineapplebunnybounce.)
(January 3, 2014 at 4:10 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(January 3, 2014 at 3:59 pm)pineapplebunnybounce Wrote: Let's clear this up, shall we?
What is the definition of a species?
That's a damn good question. Problem is, as far as I know, there isn't a single coherent definition where counterexamples can't be produced to invalidate it. That's part of the problem.
Well if one were to claim that evolution hasn't shown that a species can come to be, the starting point would be for them to pick a definition, no?
The thing is, species is a human concept that came up because of our need to classify things. In the real world, it's all continuous. Our ancestors at no point gave birth to the "homo sapiens" they gave birth to children that became increasingly like us. But we would not be able to breed with our own ancestral species if we went back in time. But if we didn't go so far back, we would be able to. It's all continuous, that's why the definition of species cannot cover all living beings, which is where a lot of the confusion about evolution comes from.
