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Species

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In biology, a species is:

There are many definitions of what kind of unit a species is (or should be). A common definition is that of a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, and separated from other such groups with which interbreeding does not (normally) happen. Other definitions may focus on similarity of DNA or morphology. Some species are further subdivided into subspecies, and here also there is no close agreement on the criteria to be used.

For more information about Species, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with species

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Scientists show that plants have measure of the shortest day

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 15 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- It is not only people who feel the effects of short winter days - new research by the University of Edinburgh and the University of Warwick has shed light on how plants calculate their own winter solstice. ...


Loud and lazy but didn't chew gum: Ancient koalas

Loud and lazy but didn't chew gum: Ancient koalas

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Dec 19, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Skull fragments of prehistoric koalas from the Riversleigh rainforests of millions of year ago suggest they shared the modern koala's "lazy" lifestyle and ability to produce loud "bellowing" ...


Ardi

Science's breakthrough of the year: Uncovering 'Ardi'

Other Sciences / Other

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 2.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2

The research that brought to light the fossils of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia, has topped Science's list of this year's most significant s ...


Study shows loss of 15-42 percent of mammals in North America

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (9) | comments 5

If the planet is headed for another mass extinction like the previous five, each of which wiped out more than 75 percent of all species on the planet, then North American mammals are one-fifth to one-half the way there, according ...


Among Apes, Teeth Are Made for the Toughest Times (w/ Video)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The teeth of some apes are formed primarily to handle the most stressful times when food is scarce, according to new research performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The findings ...


Late-surviving megafauna exposed by ancient DNA in frozen soil

Late-surviving megafauna exposed by ancient DNA in frozen soil

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Extinct woolly mammoths and ancient American horses may have been grazing the North American steppe for several thousand years longer than previously thought. After plucking ancient DNA from frozen soil in ...


Penn researchers find reproductive germ cells survive and thrive in transplants, even among species

Researchers find reproductive germ cells survive and thrive in transplants, even among species

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Reproductive researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have succeeded in isolating and transplanting pure populations of the immature cells that enable male ...


mammoth

The mammoths' swan song revised

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (12) | comments 4

This is shown by samples of ancient DNA, analysed by an international team of research scientists under the leadership of Professor Eske Willerslev from Copenhagen University. Analyses of ancient DNA thereby ...


Europe's flora is becoming impoverished

Europe's flora is becoming impoverished

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

With increasing species richness, due to more plant introductions than extinctions, plant communities of many European regions are becoming more homogeneous. The same species are occurring more frequently, ...


DNA study sheds new light on horse evolution

DNA study sheds new light on horse evolution

Biology / Evolution

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 50

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ancient DNA retrieved from extinct horse species from around the world has challenged one of the textbook examples of evolution - the fossil record of the horse family Equidae over the past ...


Tropical birds waited for land crossing between North and South America: study

Tropical birds waited for land crossing between North and South America: study

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Despite their ability to fly, tropical birds waited until the formation of the land bridge between North and South America to move northward, according to a University of British Columbia study published this ...


Sylvia atricapilla (Blackcap)

By feeding the birds, you could change their evolutionary fate

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (6) | comments 5

Feeding birds in winter is a most innocent human activity, but it can nonetheless have profound effects on the evolutionary future of a species, and those changes can be seen in the very near term. That's ...


King crab family bigger than ever

King crab family bigger than ever

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Sally Hall, a PhD student at the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) has formally described four new species of king ...


Some birds listen, instead of look, for mates

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Looks can be deceiving, but certain bird species have figured out that a voice can tell them most of what they need to know to find the right mate.


Ant

Bacterial gut symbionts are tightly linked with the evolution of herbivory in ants

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Broadly speaking, ants have two different feeding strategies. A large proportion of all species are "carnivorous," meaning that they are generalist predators feeding on other small animals or scavenging on ...