BIOL 103 Chapter Notes -Paraphyly, Allometry, Maximum Likelihood Estimation
27 Sep 2013
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Evolutionary developmental biology and the form of new species. Species: a group of organisms that maintains a distinctive set of attributes in nature. Speciation: mechanisms that promote the formation of new species. Macroevolution: evolutionary changes that create new species and groups of species. True number of species on earth is between 10 million and 100 million. The members of a species have a common set of characteristics that distinguish them from other species. Species concept: a way to define the concept of a species and provide an approach to distinguish one species from another. There are 2 most commonly applied concepts: morphological species concept. Some drawbacks: it"s difficult to analyze quantitative traits that vary in a continuous way among members of the same species. A second way to define a species is by their ability to interbreed with one another in nature but cannot do so with members of other species.
