Number 5 is generally the most accepted definition which is often stated as "anything a taxonomist agrees is a species". Anything else leaves out the bulk of living beings - bacteria, and leaves the door open on lichens and the rest of us chimera. Tim Eck When a philosopher says something that is true, then it is trivial. When he says something that is not trivial, then it is false. Gauss > -----Original Message----- > From: pbs [mailto:pbs-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Tony Avent > Sent: Monday, February 27, 2017 5:52 PM > To: 'Pacific Bulb Society' > Subject: Re: [pbs] Lycoris misc - Found > > Jim; > > Sounds like a great discussion in which I’m sure we’ll all learn something new. > To begin, there seems to be as many definitions of species than there are > taxonomists…see the most commonly cited definitions of a species below. All > but #5 deal with interbreeding, which would seem to rule out triploid, sterile > lycoris as species. > > > 1- a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of > exchanging genes or interbreeding > > 2- Biology. the major subdivision of a genus or subgenus, regarded as the > basic category of biological classification, composed of related individuals > that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves, but are not > able to breed with members of another species. > > 3- Horticulture. pertaining to a plant that is a representative member of a > species, one that is not a hybrid or variety: > > 4- In biology, a species (abbreviated sp., with the plural form species > abbreviated spp.) is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic > rank. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which > two individuals can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. > > 5- The definition of a species is a group of animals, plants or other living > things that all share common characteristics and that are all classified as > alike in some manner. > > 6- Ernst Mayr invented the biological species concept in 1942. A biological > species is a group of individuals that can interbreed and produce fertile > offspring to the exclusion of others. To determine boundaries of biological > species, time-consuming mating experiments are necessary. Provided mating > experiments are possible, a species defined by the biological species concept > is reproducible and represents the smallest taxonomic and evolutionary unit. > Biological species are therefore considered the optimal species definition _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/