• Ajen@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      I mean, horses and donkeys can reproduce with each other. Doesn’t mean their offspring will be fertile…

    • FiniteBanjo
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      9 months ago

      Explicitly yes, a species is where fertile offspring can be produced.

        • FiniteBanjo
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          9 months ago

          It holds up for most of the animal kingdom, at least.

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          Yeah species is actually a made up concept with no grounding in empirical science. Scientists just decided to invent species to make their jobs easier.

          • Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            What defines a species is whether or not the offspring of two individuals can have offspring.

            A lion and a tiger can make, however Ligras are infertile, so they’re different species.

            • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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              9 months ago

              Nah that’s not true. Haven’t you ever heard of crossbreeding flowers? Plus there’s an example very close to home in the interbreeding of sapiens and neanderthals