[Taxacom] The reality of species boundaries---Once Again

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi Frederick,
         I agree, Hull had a lot of good ideas, especially in his 1979
paper.  And I would also agree that theoretical constructs do not
require that certain experiments must be conducted to test EVERY case
(if such experiments on related taxa can effectively guide one's
thinking).  In the real world, testing every case is not at all
practical in terms of time, financial resources, or disturbing
populations that have enough problems surviving in the modern world
without humans experimenting on them.  Sometimes it just best to read
between the lines (interpolation) or use reasonable extrapolation
somewhat beyond the lines.  Some taxa are studied to death (perhaps
literally in some cases), while others are totally neglected.
Hybridation testing could be more effectively spread out in a more even
fashion which would better maximize results and minimize duplications of
effort.
      --------Ken Kinman
-------------------------------------------------------
Frederick W. Schueler wrote:
       * see "It is certainly true that the biological species concept
is not very operational, but, as I have argued elsewhere, no
theoretically significant concept in science is." Hull, 1979. - 
http://pinicola.ca/kitchen.htm#litter 
...the BSC is a theoretical construct that guides how one thinks about
morphological and genetic evidence, not a requirement that hybridization
experiments be conducted to test every case of inferred reproductive
isolation (or of hybridization).