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Evolutionary Species in Light of Population Genomics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Beckett Sterner
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Abstract

Evolutionary conceptions of species place special weight on each species having dynamic independence as a unit of evolution. However, the idea that species have their own historical fates, tendencies, or roles has resisted systematic analysis. Growing evidence from population genomics shows that many paradigm species regularly engage in hybridization. How can species be defined in terms of independent evolutionary identities if their genomes are dynamically coupled through lateral exchange? I introduce the concept of a “composite lineage” to distinguish species and subspecies on the basis of the proportion of a group’s heritable traits that are uncoupled from reproductive exchange.

Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 86 , Issue 5 , December 2019 , pp. 1087 - 1098
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

My thanks to Jeet Sukumaran and Lacey Knowles for conversations that originally inspired this article, participants at the Species in the Age of Discordance conference at the University of Utah for k, and Matt Haber for organizing that conference and his excellent commentary at a later American Philosophy Association meeting.

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