Re: After their kind (A quick question)

Glenn Morton (GRMorton@gnn.com)
Wed, 31 Jul 1996 20:00:55

>Still, there seem to be some cases in which interbereding getween genera
>has been documented. Does this mena with fertile offspring? I presume
> it
>does. If that is the case, then this would seem to violate the
> biolgical
>species concept. Is anyone considering reclassification in the cases
> where
>it has happened? Or if it's only documented in a few isolated cases, is
>someone trying to determine what is/was going on?>
>

I know of no attempt to redefine the species in these cases. Sometimes
fertility is a matter of degree. Since 1527 60 foals have been born to
female mules (Lorraine Travis, The Mule, London:J. A. Allen, 1990). Some
of these births have been under controlled circumstances at Texas A&M.
Are the donke and horse the same species? No, their fertility is too rare

>In his testimony before the Arkansas trial that ashcanned Arkansas'
>balanced treatment law, Wayne Frair, a creationist who studies turtles,
>said he believed that "kinds" might be orders in some cases. I presume
> he had interbreeding in mind too. I have no idea whether he had any
>specific cases to trot out, but it might be worthwhile to check his pubs.

For turtle interbreeding see S. A. Karl et al "Hybridization among the
ancient mariners: ..." Jour. of Heredity 1995 86(4), pp262-268

glenn
Foundation,Fall and Flood
http://members.gnn.com/GRMorton/dmd.htm