The biological species concept defines a species as members of populations that actually or potentially interbreed in nature, not according to similarity of appearance.
n. pl. species. 1. Biology A group of closely related organisms that are very similar to each other and are usually capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. The species is the fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a genus or subgenus. Noun. 1. species - (biology) taxonomic group whose members can interbreed. bacteria species-a species of bacteria. biological science, biology-the science that studies living organisms. The biological species concept gives an explanation of how species form (speciation). A biological species is a group of individuals which can breed together (panmixia). However, they cannot breed with other groups. In other words, the group is reproductively isolated from other groups 1 Phylogenetic species concept: a species is a tip on a phylogeny, that is, the smallest set of organisms that share an ancestor and can be distinguished from other such sets. 2  Under this definition, a ring species is a single species that encompasses a lot of phenotypic variation. A researchers choice of species concept often reflects his or her research focus. Making that decision requires the scientist to commit to a species concept. For most purposes and for communication with the general public, the biological species concept is used. Biological Species Concept. The biological species concept defines a species as members of populations that actually or potentially interbreed in nature, not according to similarity of appearance. Although appearance is helpful in identifying species, it does not define species. Appearance isnt everything. 1  Organisms may appear to be alike and be different species. 2  For example, Western meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta) and Eastern meadowlarks (Sturnella magna) look almost identical to one another, yet do not interbreed with each otherthus, they are separate species according to this definition. Species Concepts and the Definition of Species. 1) Biological species concept: Species are groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations, which are reproductively isolated from other such groups (Mayr, 1940). 4) Competition species concept: Species are the most extensive units in the natural economy such that reproductive competition occurs among their parts (Ghiselin, 1974). 5) Ecological species concept: A species is a set of organisms exploiting (or adapted to) a single niche (Ridley 1993). biological species concept. Members of the same species are capable of interbreeding, producing viable offspring, and cannot produce viable offspring with members of other species. This is one of several concepts that define a species, and is the most commonly used and accepted of those concepts. The most common method for species differentiation is the biological species concept, which defines a species as a population of organisms that can interbreed to produce viable, fertile offspring. There are many definitions for the concept of species. There is no universal species concept—one that applies to all organisms. Instead, scientists have been proposing different species concepts for years, and each is based on slightly different biological reasoning.  For a long time, ornithologists almost universally used the biological species concept (BSC). This definition of species is based on species being reproductively isolated from each other.  The biological species concept is the most widely accepted species concept. It defines species in terms of interbreeding. For instance, Ernst Mayr defined a species as follows: species are groups of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups.. The biological species concept explains why the members of a species resemble one another, i.e. form phenetic clusters, and differ from other species. When two organisms breed within a species, their genes pass into their combined offspring.
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Biological species concept definition