Why Species are Fuzzy
Lunch Hour Lectures - Video
English - March 23, 2009 09:48 - 38 minutes - ★★★ - 7 ratingsEducation Health & Fitness Medicine public lectures Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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The ‘species concept’ – the definition of what constitutes a distinct species – has been a headache for biologists for at least 70 years. Recent genetic studies in natural populations have led to a revolution in the understanding of biodiversity and speciation. Species are demonstrably continuous with subspecies and varieties in nature, and intermediates in the speciation process are all around us. I will illustrate my talk with examples such as butterflies, birds and even whales.
Lecture given on 30 November 2006.