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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   26366 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 23, 2024

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What would be an example

It's so prevalent it even has a standard name (although it's still less prevalent than the opposite where crossing different strains leads to improved fitness): Outbreeding Depression.

From the article:

Examples of the second mechanism include stickleback fish, which developed benthic and limnetic forms when separated. When crosses occurred between the two forms, there were low spawning rates. However, when the same forms mated with each other and no crossing occurred between lakes, the spawning rates were normal. This pattern has also been studied in Drosophila and leaf beetles, where the F1 progeny and later progeny resulted in intermediate fitness between the two parents. This circumstance is more likely to happen and occurs more quickly with selection than genetic drift.

That suggests there is at least some degree of species variation.

Of course, we aren't identical. I'm saying more that any two random humans no matter are still more alike than each other genetically than for most other things we group into the same species. For example if you were to look at Maize you can get kernels in the same head of corn which are more than an order of magnitude more different from each other genetically than any two humans are from each other. Similar less extreme results hold for lots of bacteria etc. If we were to be as strict in calling things separate species as we are to call humans and chimps separate species we'd probably have at least an order and a half of magnitude more known bacteria species than we do today.

I meant an example from two humans, not biology writ large.

Anyhow the definition of what constitutes a species is a matter of debate within biology

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