{"id":4117,"date":"2026-01-21T09:58:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/?p=4117"},"modified":"2026-03-14T20:51:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T08:51:59","slug":"biodiversity-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.seaswell.net\/publishing\/biodiversity-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodiversity – Species"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Biodiversity
Biodiversity – Species of Finches<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Biodiversity – Species<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This Blog post #3<\/strong> is entitled: Biodiversity – Species<\/strong>. It follows our last post #2: “Biodiversity \u2013 Variety of Life<\/a>” of this Biodiversity series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Hidden Universe”<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This post #3, Biodiversity – Species<\/strong>, of our Biodiversity blog series is inspired by Chapter 1 of Part One of Alexandre Antonelli\u2019s book, “The Hidden Universe: Adventures in Biodiversity<\/a>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part One of his book is entitled, \u201cBiodiversity: More Than Meets the Eye\u2019, and his Chapter 1 is entitled, \u2018Species\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Definitions of Species<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

What is a species?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oxford English Dictionary<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

We refer to the definition in the “Concise Oxford English Dictionary<\/a><\/strong>“, Edition 12, for the biological sense of the word, ‘species’:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

species<\/strong> n. (pl. same) 1<\/strong> [Biology] a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or of interbreeding, considered as the basic unit of taxonomy and denoted by a Latin binomial, e.g. Homo sapiens<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wikipedia<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Next, we go to Wikipedia<\/strong> to ask what a ‘species<\/a>‘ is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“a species is the eighth major taxonomic rank in Life’s hierarchy of biological classification” (as defined by biologists), “as well as being a unit of biodiversity<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wikipedia article further explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It can be defined as the largest group of organisms<\/a> in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes<\/a> or mating types<\/a> can produce fertile offspring<\/a>, typically by sexual reproduction<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the article goes on to explain, the definition is more complex than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

We shall leave the reader to explore the details of the definition of ‘species’ in the Wikipedia article or other reliable research sources. But whether you investigate the definition of “species” further or not, we recommend that you read Antonelli\u2019s definition in his book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our preoccupation here, in this post, is to consider the importance of species for biodiversity as we continue to review Antonelli\u2019s book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biological Classification Hierarchy<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Before continuing our post, perhaps we should ask the question, how do species<\/strong> fit into the biological scheme of things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A ‘species’ is the eighth major taxonomic rank in the hierarchy of biological classification<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight major taxonomic ranks of Life are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n