Species

From Conservapedia

A species is a group of living beings or organisms having sufficient genetic similarity to be able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring.^[1]

For example, a tiger and a clam are different species, because they cannot mate. A German Shepherd and a Beagle can mate, because they are different breeds within one species.

However, the definition of "species" has changed over time and is sometimes problematic. For example, there are cases where two species are not capable of interbreeding, but each is capable of interbreeding with a third species.^[2] Additionally, a "species" is sometimes defined in such a way that groups of creatures that do not naturally interbreed (perhaps because of geological isolation) are classified as separate species despite the fact that they can interbreed.^[2] Furthermore, many extinct species known only from fossils have been given species names, despite the impossibility of determining their capability of interbreeding.

[edit] The origin of species

Linnaeus originally intended "species" to refer to the biblical creation "kinds", but the modern definitions of species do not match the biblical kinds. Nevertheless, many Christians and many evolutionists believe that the idea of new species developing is inconsistent with the Bible. However, creationary scientists accept that speciation has been observed, although they deny that speciation can lead to the development of completely new features as predicted by evolutionists.

Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of Species 149 years ago, hoping to account for the diversity of plant and animal life with an entirely naturalistic explanation (see Theory of evolution).

[edit] Note

1. ↑ A group of organisms belong to the same biological species if they are capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring. Holgrem Lab, Northwestern University, Illinois
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Speciation (SparkNotes)

[edit] See also

Biological classification