News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species?. Parent comment

Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by mamon on Friday November 27, 2015 @09:17AM (#10637374)
There is a very simple scientific test whether or not two animals are the same species: if they can breed and have fertile offspring they are the same species, otherwise they are not. All the discussions about whether or not they are physically similar to each other are pointless.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by TazeTSchnitzel on Friday November 27, 2015 @09:22AM (#10637398)
This is not the only measure of a species. Please read the article.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by puredemo on Friday November 27, 2015 @09:35AM (#10637453)
It's the least arbitrary and most accepted widely measure, though.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by Angostura on Friday November 27, 2015 @09:57AM (#10637538)
Unfortunately, it is hugely over simplistic. Using it you can conclude that blackberries and raspberries are the same species and that lions and tigers are kinda-sorta the same species, since it has been possible to get Ligers to successfully mate with their parent species.

So regarding its characterisation as "a very simple scientific test" - no, it isn't.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by Turing_Machine on Friday November 27, 2015 @01:37PM (#10638309)
There are even not-uncommon situations where Population A can breed with Population B, and Population B can breed with Population C, but Population A and Population C can't interbreed.

Using "can breed" as the metric for "same species" creates the situation where A and B are the same species, and B and C are the same species, but A and C are not. That's clearly contrary to what most people have in mind when they use the word "species".

Species really should be a continuum rather than a binary.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by wmil on Friday November 27, 2015 @10:26AM (#10637633)
Polar bears and grizzlies are probably a better example. They produce fertile offspring but no one thinks of them as the same species.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by galago on Friday November 27, 2015 @10:41AM (#10637693)
Wolves, coyotes, domestic dogs are another example that comes up in this discussion.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by Turing_Machine on Friday November 27, 2015 @01:40PM (#10638329)
Yeah, all of those can interbreed, more or less. On the other side of the coin, consider dogs alone. Successful breeding between Great Danes and Chihuahuas is quite rare. :-)

The "successful breeding" metric isn't very satisfactory on any level

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Are Domestic and Wild Salmon Still the Same Species? by Scarblac on Friday November 27, 2015 @02:03PM (#10638418)
In high school. Once you take a slightly closer look, it completely fails all over the place (ring species, asexual reproduction, etc etc).

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_problem .

[ Parent | on HN ]