Species as a Heuristic: Reconciling Theory and Practice.
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syab087__1_.pdf
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311.07 KB
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Resource type
Journal article
Date published
September 1, 2022
Abstract
Species are crucial to most branches of biological research, yet remain controversial in terms of definition, delimitation, and reality. The difficulty of resolving the “species problem” stems from the tension between their theoretical concept as groups of evolving and highly variable organisms and the practical need for a stable and comparable unit of biology. Here, we suggest that treating species as a heuristic can be consistent with a theoretical definition of what species are and with the practical means by which they are identified and delimited. Specifically, we suggest that theoretically species are heuristic since they comprise clusters of closely related individuals responding in a similar manner to comparable sets of evolutionary and ecological forces, whilst they are practically heuristic because they are identifiable by the congruence of contingent properties indicative of those forces. This reconciliation of the theoretical basis of species with their practical applications in biological research allows for a loose but relatively consistent definition of species based on the strategic analysis and integration of genotypic, phenotypic, and ecotypic data. [Cohesion; heuristic; homeostasis; lineage; species problem.]
Contributor (person)
Carstens, Bryan
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom | Interdisciplinary Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership at the University of Oxford - Research grant T001445/1 |
Journal title
Systematic Biology
Volume
71
Issue
5
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Place of publication
Oxford, UK
ISSN
1063-5157
eISSN
1076-836X
Date accepted
October 16, 2021
Official URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Keywords