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Ring species

May 20th, 2007 by

Here’s one way biological species can be messy. In a ring species, adjacent populations can interbreed, but not all can interbreed with all. In fact, as you walk around the ring, each population can interbreed, until you come back to the beginning where the last species can’t breed with the first. (Thanks to Udi Oron for the pointer.)

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2 Responses to “Ring species”

  1. on 20 May 2007 at 7:47 pm1 fp

    Attempts to access clade analyses of circumpolar gulls in order to add a dimension of understanding run into the firewalls of “University.” So, most of us will remain locked in an understanding of biological classification current at the time we stopped studying biology, since “University” and its publishing supply chain maintain a tight monopoly and control of online resources.

  2. on 24 May 2007 at 12:30 am2 Brian H

    Are you edging towards a new motto, “Everything is messelaneous?” Neologisms are ok, but …

    ;)