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Re: Species concepts

From: Nick Pharris <npharris@umich.edu>
Reply-To: npharris@umich.edu
To: zone65@bigpond.com
CC: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: Of Tarbosaurs and tabbies
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 16:41:31 -0500

Wait, so you're advocating a system wherein any two individuals who can mate to
produce viable (even if sterile) offspring would be lumped into the same
species???

I think you'd find very few specialists would agree with you there. This would
mean lumping entire families (Elephantidae, Equidae, Delphinidae, perhaps
Felidae) into single species--and probably even more drastic lumping among
plants. 

Has anyone introduced a system similar to the following?

Fertile offspring = same species
Infertile offspring = different species of same genus
No offspring = different genera

I don't know how much it would alter existing classifications, but having some objective definition of genera would be good.

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