Microbiology and the species problem |
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Authors: | Marc Ereshefsky |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Philosophy, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive, NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada |
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Abstract: | This paper examines the species problem in microbiology and its implications for the species problem more generally. Given
the different meanings of ‘species’ in microbiology, the use of ‘species’ in biology is more multifarious and problematic
than commonly recognized. So much so, that recent work in microbial systematics casts doubt on the existence of a prokaryote
species category in nature. It also casts doubt on the existence of a general species category for all of life (one that includes
both prokaryotes and eukaryotes). Prokaryote biology also undermines recent attempts to save the species category, such as
the suggestion that species are metapopulation lineages and the idea that ‘species’ is a family resemblance concept. |
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