Chapter 22, Problem 1QC

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The reason that it has not been possible to come up with a single, comprehensive and agreed-upon species concept.

Introduction:

Species are defined as the group of living organism that consist of similar individuals which is capable of exchanging genes or interbreed to produce fertile offspring. The plant and animal populations which have same members are sharing similar characteristics.

Explanation of Solution

Due to change in environmental conditions, the adaptation of different organisms is changed. So some organisms are able to survive in a changing environment and they adapt the environment and reproduce their offspring’s while some are not able to tolerate the changing environment and become endangered or dead.

So, the population of different species is changing over time, and it is difficult to apply any single definition to define species. Species involve a variety of living and dead organisms which include everything such as small bacteria to large dinosaur which is extinct. As different species have different habitats and food requirements.

Conclusion

It is very difficult to set one single definition for species as due to habitat loss the species are extinct. A variety of species are found in ecological systems out of which some of them are dead and their fossils are only of study while some are live.