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Date: | Fri, 10 May 2024 08:54:58 -0400 |
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> While it might appear that humans “create species,” this is a mistake.
When the act of creation is based upon distinctions without a difference, then the humans make a mistake, and created a species out of whole cloth.
> Species are the fundamental taxonomic unit of evolutionary biology.
More recently, taxonomy has become a political tool.
There has been extensive discussion and research on Northern and Southern White Rhinos, and the minor differences between them.
The Green Sea Turtles are another "toss up" situation. It is true that the Atlantic population never interbreeds with the Pacific population, as they stick to warmer waters. But it wasn't until the turtles became a mascot for "save the oceans" that the new species appeared. Call me suspicious if you will...
Another case is the Little Blue Penguin or "Korora" (Eudyptula minor) vs the "White-Flippered Penguin", Eudyptula novaehollandiae. The wing markings are distinct, and there are some behavior differences, but the double-brooding is not a behavior of the New Zealand White-Flippered Penguins, only the Australian ones, so the behavior is a feature of location and conditions, not species.
What does any of this have to do with bees? There are many "local bees" being fiercely protected, Germany being perhaps the best example of a program based upon a belief in a "local bee" that ends up being defined by a dubious set of morphometrics, refereed by people without consistent metrics for those morphometrics. Its either politics, or a new religion, I'm not sure which.
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