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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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Before 'Lucy,' there was 'Ardi': Oldest hominid skeleton provides new evidence for human evolution

Before 'Lucy,' there was 'Ardi': Oldest hominid skeleton provides new evidence for human evolution (w/ Video)

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Oct 01, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (35) | comments 1

In a special issue of Science, an international team of scientists has for the first time thoroughly described Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiop ...


Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss

Beyond sunlight: Explorers census 17,650 ocean species between edge of darkness and black abyss (w/ Video)

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 22, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (15) | comments 0

Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight - creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid ...


Caught in the act: Butterfly mate preference shows how 1 species can become 2

Caught in the act: Scientists find butterflies splitting into two species

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- Breaking up may actually not be hard to do, say scientists who've found a population of tropical butterflies that may be on its way to a split into two distinct species.


Time in a bottle: Scientists watch evolution unfold

Time in a bottle: Scientists watch evolution unfold

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 18, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (42) | comments 13

A 21-year Michigan State University experiment that distills the essence of evolution in laboratory flasks not only demonstrates natural selection at work, but could lead to biotechnology and medical research ...


Girardinus falcatus

Symmetrical brains can be an advantage

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 01, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many studies have found widespread asymmetry in the brains of different species, including humans, and most have assumed asymmetry is advantageous. A new paper, published in the Proceedings of ...


Researchers go underground to reveal 850 new species

Researchers go underground to reveal 850 new species

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 28, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Australian researchers have discovered a huge number of new species of invertebrate animals living in underground water, caves and "micro-caverns" amid the harsh conditions of the Australian outback.


Genetic sex determination let ancient species adapt to ocean life

Genetic sex determination let ancient species adapt to ocean life

Biology / Evolution

created Sep 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new analysis of extinct sea creatures suggests that the transition from egg-laying to live-born young opened up evolutionary pathways that allowed these ancient species to adapt to and thrive ...


Scientists discover bioluminescent 'green bombers' from the deep sea

Scientists discover bioluminescent 'green bombers' from the deep sea

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Aug 20, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (8) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the latest proof that the oceans continue to offer remarkable findings and much of their vastness remains to be explored, scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego ...


Bipedal humans came down from the trees, not up from the ground (w/ Video)

Biology / Evolution

created Aug 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 9

A detailed examination of the wrist bones of several primate species challenges the notion that humans evolved their two-legged upright walking style from a knuckle-walking ancestor.


Naming evolution's winners and losers

Naming evolution's winners and losers

Biology / Evolution

created Jul 29, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (10) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- Mammals and many species of birds and fish are among evolution's "winners," while crocodiles, alligators and a reptile cousin of snakes known as the tuatara are among the losers, according ...


Trees evolved camouflage defense against long extinct predator: First evidence of camouflage defense in plants

Trees evolved camouflage defense against long extinct predator: First evidence of camouflage defense in plants

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 22, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 30

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many animal species such as snakes, insects and fish have evolved camouflage defences to deter attack from their predators. However research published in New Phytologist has discovered that t ...


Primate archaeology sheds light on human origins

Primate archaeology sheds light on human origins

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jul 15, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (12) | comments 1

A University of Calgary archaeologist who is one of the few researchers in the world studying the material culture of human beings' closest living relatives - the great apes - is joining his colleagues in ...


Scientists 'rebuild' giant moa using ancient DNA

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have performed the first DNA-based reconstruction of the giant extinct moa bird, using prehistoric feathers recovered from caves and rock shelters in New Zealand.


Scientists show that plants have measure of the shortest day

Biology / Plants & Animals

created 14 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" ...