The problem with the species problem.
When Charles Darwin convinced the scientific community that species evolve, the long-held essentialist view of each species as fixed was rejected and a clear conceptual understanding of the term was lost. For the next century, a real species problem existed that became culturally entrenched within the scientific community. Although largely solved decades ago, the species problem remains entrenched today due to a suite of factors. Most of the factors that help maintain its perceived intractability have been revealed and logically dismissed; yet this is not widely known so those factors continue to be influential. It is time to recognize this false foundation and relegate the species problem to history.
Department of Biology, Utah State University, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-5305, USA.
Mark W
MW
Ellis
D005075:Biological Evolution; D001695:Biology / Q000266:history*; D002965:Classification / Q000379:methods*; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century