What is a species?

What is a species? "Species is a Latin word meaning 'kind' or 'appearance.'" (Campbell and Reece, 2005, p.473). However, clarifying what actually constitutes a species is controversial, as Biologists cannot agree on a specific definition of the word. Species is a term used by humans in attempt to place different 'kinds' of organisms into distinct groups using taxonomy - biological classification. A scientific name in the form of a binomial nomenclature is used to describe these groups. It is always written in italics with the capitalised Latin genus name followed by the species name. Species, therefore, is a fundamental category in taxonomy and important in the scientific naming of organisms. It is therefore essential for us to have a proper understanding of species. However, as a consequence of Biologists being divided in opinion on the nature of species, several concepts have been proposed to define the term. Therefore the answer to the question 'what is a species?' differs depending on which species concept is applied. The biological species concept (BSC) is the most frequently used and widely accepted definition of species. This concept was originally proposed in 1942 by biologist Ernst Mayr. Ernst Mayr stated that "species are groups of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups." (Ernst, 1963 cited in Ridley,

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Biological Sciences
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