Species cohesion concept of species

According to the cohesion species concept (Templeton 1989) a species is the largest delimited population that functions as an internal mechanism ensuring mutual phenotype cohesion of its members. Phenotype cohesion of a population is understood to mean maintenance of mutual similarity of its members even when the average appearance of individuals in the population changes in time and the population develops as a whole.
            It is apparent that, in a sexually reproducing species, the exchange of genetic information between members of the population, occurring during sexual reproduction, functions as a mechanism capable of maintaining mutual similarity of the members of the population. In other cases, cohesion is ensured by the existence of a common species-specific mechanism of recognition of sexual partners. Thus, the cohesion species concept encompasses the  biological species concept and also the ethological species concept.

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The classical Darwinian theory of evolution can explain the evolution of adaptive traits only in asexual organisms. The frozen plasticity theory is much more general: It can also explain the origin and evolution of adaptive traits in both asexual and sexual organisms Read more