One of the fundamental aspects of evolution is speciation. This is the process by which more species come into being, and there are many different…
25 CommentsCategory: Natural Classification
This is part of a series of first rough drafts of a book I am working on with Dr Malte Ebach of UNSW. It is not citeable nor is it necessarily clear or correct.
My book is published
See the book at the right entitled The Nature of Classification? According to the website you go to when you click on the cover, it…
7 CommentsAre species theoretical objects?
[Note: this is a paper that has sat in my drawer for a while now. I am posting it to follow from my last post on the theological origins of species. If species are not ranks in biology, what are they?]
It is often claimed that species are the units of evolution, but this is not defined or clearly explained. In this paper I will argue that species are phenomenal objects that stand in need of explanation, but that they are not objects required by any theory of biology. I further define, or rather describe, species as the genealogical cluster of various lineages at the genetic, haplotype, genomic, organismic, and population level, in keeping with my previous discussions.
19 Comments
Articles of faith: The theological and philosophical origins of the concept of species
It takes a while for the implications of one’s own work to sink in. In my 2009 book Species, a History of the Idea (see here),…
51 CommentsUpdate
As readers may have noticed, I have been pretty inactive here lately. This is because I have been finishing a book and sending it off…
13 Comments