Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
species aggregate or aggregate species: a grouping of closely related species that are treated like a single species for practical purposes; alliance: a group of species or genera that have at some time been considered provisionally related; conspecific: of the same species; e. g. of two taxa previously thought to be different species
The hierarchy of biological classification's eight major taxonomic ranks. A genus contains one or more species. Minor intermediate ranks are not shown. A species (pl. species) is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction.
A taxon above the rank of species has a scientific name in one part (a uninominal name). A species has a name typically composed of two parts (a binomial name or binomen): generic name + specific name; for example Canis lupus. Sometimes the name of a subgenus (in parentheses) can be intercalated between the genus name and the specific epithet ...
In addition to the genetic causes of reproductive isolation between species there is another factor that can cause post zygotic isolation: the presence of microorganisms in the cytoplasm of certain species. The presence of these organisms in a species and their absence in another causes the non-viability of the corresponding hybrid.
A subspecies is a taxonomic rank below species – the only such rank recognized in the zoological code, [14] and one of three main ranks below species in the botanical code. [12] When geographically separate populations of a species exhibit recognizable phenotypic differences, biologists may identify these as separate subspecies; a subspecies ...
For example, the human species is uniquely identified within the animal kingdom by the name Homo sapiens. No other species of animal can have this same binomen (the technical term for a binomial in the case of animals). Prior to Linnaean taxonomy, animals were classified according to their mode of movement.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
The varied definitions either place taxonomy as a sub-area of systematics (definition 2), invert that relationship (definition 6), or appear to consider the two terms synonymous. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy (definitions 1 and 2), or a part of systematics outside taxonomy.