Frozen Evolution. Or, that’s not the way it is, Mr. Darwin. A Farewell to Selfish Gene.

The theory of frozen plasticity suggests that the taxonomic category of species, and even more that of genus, could objectively denote the existing entity, rather than a merely useful epistemological construct of biologists. Within the theory of frozen plasticity, a biological species can be defined as a set of individuals sharing an identical gene pool throughout the period between two speciating events. Similarly, a genus can be defined as a set of individuals sharing a common exclusive ancestor in the time between two periods of evolutionary plasticity.