BSC

[B. J. Tindall]

Interesting to see what problems the "biological species concept" is
producing. Just to throw the debate open a little more; the problems
encountered in zoology and botany are those caused by not knowing where to
draw the line with sexually breeding "species". Of course the definition is
loaded in favour of sexual reproduction. One often hears that organisms
which do not breed sexually do not have species, because they do not fit
the "biological species concept". The problem is that asexually reproducing
organsims seem to have been very successful in evolution, in fact a quick
glance at molecular estimates of evolution would suggest that sexual
reproduction is only reserved for a rather small section of organisms.
Perhaps one must come to terms with the fact that the "biological species
concept" is a "biological species concept for sexually reproducing
organisms", and that there should be other concepts for dealing with the
asexual organisms. After all if "speciation" is one of the first steps in
the divergence of one "species" into two or more "species" which is part
evolution, then asexual organisms also evolve and must be subject to the
"asexual equivalent of (sexual) speciation".
Brian Tindall
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