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The proper definition of a species is that individuals can interbreed and have fertile offspring. It's impossible to test whether two fossils are the same speci
by tlb 17y ago
The proper definition of a species is that individuals can interbreed and have fertile offspring. It's impossible to test whether two fossils are the same species. The usual assumption is that if they look different they were different species, but that can be wrong for many reasons. Dogs, for example, are all one species, but you might well classify Chihuahuas and Labradors separately based on their remains
- gnaritas 17y agoI think your definition is a bit off. If I recall correctly, a species is a group that does interbreed naturally and produce fertile offspring, not just can.
- tlb 17y agoFor full discussion, including various proposed definitions and the problems of identifying species from fossils, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species