- In HeroQuest-RPG_at_yahoogroups.com, Jane Williams
<janewilliams20_at_...> wrote:
>
> Isn't the real test to put two of them together and if
> there is offspring, and if so, if it's fertile?
>
That's the Biological Species Concept, and that's close enough for
government work in most cases. However, nature loves making us
biologists look like idiots:
- There are a number of species that *could* probably produce viable
offspring, but never would in nature simply because their signaling
mechanisms don't synch up. Frogs and Insects are notorious for this
sort of shennanigan.
- Ring species. My arch-foe in online discussions about species. I
think we all know the deal with these guys.
- Ligers are the off-spring of a Male Lion and a Female Tiger. Their
female offspring are fertile. These pairings are *purported* to even
have happened in nature where Asiatic Lion and Tiger ranges overlap.
I'm pretty sure we'd all agree lions and tigers are different species.
So, um. Yeah. Unfortunately, we can't rely on the Biological Species
Concept to pull our fat from the fire.