Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!rochester!rit!cci632!ccicpg!nf
From: nf@ccicpg.UUCP (Ned Foboe)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: subspecies status
Summary: nothing to do with reviving extinct species, brains, exploding
         fish, cows breath or other burning topics in biology today
Keywords: taxonomy, subspecies
Message-ID: <78995@ccicpg.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jul 90 22:04:57 GMT
Reply-To: nf@ccicpg.UUCP (Ned Foboe)
Organization: Cameroon national football team fan club
Lines: 63


I'm responding to this here rather than in mail
where I received it as the header was hopelessly
mangled. It just said bit.net a 100 times over...
 
>Subject: Re: what is a subspecies?
>Newsgroups: sci.bio
>In-Reply-To: <78558@ccicpg.UUCP>
>Organization: University of Hawaii
>
>In article <78558@ccicpg.UUCP> you write:
>
>I am not a regular reader of this newsgroup, so excuse me if this
>has already been answered to your satisfaction.
>
>>What is a subspecies ? How do subspecies differ from 
>>morphologically different populations of the same species ?
>They may not differ at all.
 
Ok, they *MAY* not. I agree there might be a one to one 
mapping between different populations of a species and
subspecies taxa, but this may not always be the case. 
 
Examples abound of highly polymorphic subspecies. I was
wondering where polymorphism ends and subspecies taxa
begins.
 
>A view of any taxonomic arrangement as fixed and,
>heaven forbid, agreed upon by all is an over-simplification.
 
Granted.
 
>Subspecies also go by the term race, which may help clear
>the air somewhat.
 
If by this, it is meant that subspecies=race, than why
even use the word race? If by this is meant race=population
I disagree, vehemently.
 
>Since there is no agreed upon metric for determining when
>to populations are distinct enough to be designated as
>separate subspecies or species, its a matter of debate for
>taxonomists.
 
Is that the answer I'm looking for ? It's just a judgment
call on behalf of the taxonomist ? When the differences between
a population or set of populations within a species is greater
than some arbitrary threshold, a subspecies barrier is erected ?
 
>>Ned. Who thinks he knows what a species is.
 
I find it interesting that every set of biologists seem to 
have a slightly different set of criteria for establishing
just where the species barrier is.
 
What I deal with is cyprinodontiform fishes, and for
these, meristics are all but useless. Much greater
reliance is placed on hybridization experiments and
even more on the morphology of the chromosome.
 
>- Mike. Who thinks its not really that important.
 
No, not if you're an armchair biologist :-)