Conversation started Sep 28, 2011 at 13:28.
BeatMe
BeatMe
Sep 28, 2011 13:28
so according to you and this domestic dogs and foxes on the other side are not different species, because they can be bred?
macalester.edu/~montgomery/GrayWolfExtra.html
wax eagle
wax eagle
@BeatMe was that not the definition of species used earlier in this very room?
BeatMe
BeatMe
i don't know of any definition
if you look at that we can see that bears can be bred from the common ancestor of a dog or fox
and cats can be bred from their common ancestor
wax eagle
wax eagle
how about wikipedia
> A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
BeatMe
BeatMe
well thats evolution?
i don't think dogs can interbreed with wolves or foxes and produce fertile offspring
TRiG
TRiG
@waxeagle People, get Plato out of your heads. There is no "ideal wolf" or "ideal dog" or "ideal fox" or "ideal bear". Ideals don't exist. The real world is messy. All categories -- all categories -- have fuzzy edges.
2
wax eagle
wax eagle
Sep 28, 2011 13:32
@TRiG not sure what you mean by that....I'm not suggesting there is an ideal wolf...
BeatMe
BeatMe
altough both dog and foxes share the same common ancestor
TRiG
TRiG
@waxeagle But you're trying to find a neat and tidy definition for "species". There isn't one. Fuzzy edges, y'know?
BeatMe
BeatMe
;)
wax eagle
wax eagle
@TRiG i see what you are saying. I'm content with "can breed together and produce fertile offspring"
TRiG
TRiG
@waxeagle And even that isn't neat and tidy. What does "can" mean? Will bread in captivity but not in the wild? Won't actually bread, but can reproduce by in vitro fertalisation?
Different breads of dog could be different species by some of these definitions. Irish wolfhound + chiwawa, anyone?
And what about ring species?
wax eagle
wax eagle
Sep 28, 2011 13:37
@TRiG good point :) biology is a seriously challenging subject, lots of complexity...one of the reaons I didn't touch it in college :)
BeatMe
BeatMe
Ring species
In biology, a ring species is a connected series of neighboring populations, each of which can interbreed with closely sited related populations, but for which there exist at least two "end" populations in the series, which are too distantly related to interbreed, though there is a potential gene flow between each "linked" species. Such non-breeding, though genetically connected, "end" populations may co-exist in the same region thus closing a "ring". Ring species provide important evidence of evolution in that they illustrate what happens over time as populations genetically diverge, an...
lol, didn't knew that before ;)
 
Conversation ended Sep 28, 2011 at 13:37.