Where does the morphological species concept come from?
The morphological species concept stems from the morphology, which is the study of the physical aspects of an organism and their arrangement. Morphology is essentially the study of the structure of the parts of organisms. Morphologists focus on understanding the arrangement of parts including external…
What does the term species mean for a phycologist?
The species concept for most phycologists is based on the morphological characters and hence the term ‘species’ means morphospecies.
How is morphology different from physiology and physiology?
Unlike physiology, which focuses on the function of the parts of an organism, morphology seeks only to understand and classify the parts and their arrangement in various organisms. A morphological species is classified based solely on morphology or structure.
What are the limitations of the species concept?
In summary, the major limitations of the biological species concept are that it is inapplicable to: (1) fossil species; (2) organisms reproducing asexually or with extensive self-fertilization; and (3) sexual organisms with open mating systems (species that freely hybridize).
What are problems in the biological species concept?
The species problem Aggregates of microspecies. The species concept is further weakened by the existence of microspecies, groups of organisms, including many plants, with very little genetic variability, usually forming species aggregates. Hybridisation. Ring species.
What are the biological species concept based on?
Define the biological species concept. Scientists categorize organisms into species based on their physical, genetic, and behavioral characteristics. The most common method for species differentiation is the biological species concept, which defines a species as a population of organisms that can interbreed to produce viable, fertile offspring.
What is the Ecological Species Concept?
The ecological species concept is a concept of species in which a species is a set of organisms adapted to a particular set of resources , called a niche, in the environment. According to this concept, populations form the discrete phenetic clusters that we recognize as species because the ecological and evolutionary processes controlling how resources are divided up tend to produce those clusters.
What is genetic species concept?
We define a genetic species as a group of genetically compatible interbreeding natural populations that is genetically isolated from other such groups. This focus on genetic isolation rather than reproductive isolation distinguishes the Genetic Species Concept from the Biological Species Concept.
