Please tell us more about Darwin and Herbert. Most intriguing!
Jon
"M.B.Roberts" wrote:
> The chief problem to a geologist over the BSC is that no one has ever seen
> fossils mate though Beverley Halstead tried to act it out wearing a dinosaur
> suit.
>
> I am fully aware of the problems of definition which in itself negates the
> fixity of species.
>
> To continue in the same vein. One of the first to challenge the fixity of
> species was The Hon and Very Rev William Herbert, the Dean of Manchester
> Cathedral. Darwin visited him in May 1847 and the poor old dean died a few
> hours later. History of science is fun!
>
> Michael
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Clarke" <jdac@alphalink.com.au>
> Cc: <asa@calvin.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 9:35 PM
> Subject: Re: Examples of new species
>
> > Hi Jim (and Michael)
> >
> > Mayr gives a worthy defense of the biological species concept (BSC). It
> has
> > many merits, but also some practical problems. The BSC is also difficult
> to
> > apply to asexual reproducing creatures and fossil organisms. Support for
> the
> > BSC appears strongest among veterbrate zoologists and entomologists (Mayr
> is an
> > ornithologist), none of which are truly asexual (although some are
> > parthnogenic). Botanists, palaeontologists, and coral taxonomists (to
> name just
> > a few) have problems with the the BSC.
> >
> > There are at least eight different definitions of species out there: folk,
> > biological, morphological, genetic, palaeontological, evolutionary,
> phylogenetic
> > and biosystematic. Joseph Boxhorn, in the first link I gave
> > <http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-speciation.html> has a short but
> useful
> > review of four of these, folk, biological, morphological, and
> phylogenetic.
> >
> > respectfully
> >
> > Jon
> >
> > "Hofmann, Jim" wrote:
> >
> > > Here's an on-line article that addresses some of the relevant issues:
> > >
> > > "What is a Species, and What is Not?"
> > > by ERNST MAYR
> > >
> > > http://www.aaas.org/spp/dspp/dbsr/EVOLUT/mayr.htm
> > >
> > > Jim Hofmann
> > > Philosophy Department and Liberal Studies Program
> > > California State University Fullerton
> > >
> http://nsmserver2.fullerton.edu/departments/chemistry/evolution_creation/web
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 31 2001 - 18:00:23 EST