Species

Question 1

What is a species?

Answer 1

A species is a group of organisms that can breed with each other to produce fertile offspring

Question 2

What is the problem with the definition of a species being ‘A species is a group of organisms that can breed with each other to produce fertile offspring?’ (2)

Answer 2

1. Some species reproduce asexually from parts of their body or by dividing in two. If we do not see two organisms breeding together we cannot be sure if they are the same species.
2. Some organisms from closely related species can interbreed and produce hybrid offspring that are fertile.

Question 3

What does it mean if a species interbreeds?

Answer 3

It breeds with another species

Question 4

What is a hybrid?

Answer 4

The offspring from two different species?

Question 5

What does it mean if and organism is sterile?

Answer 5

That they cannot produce offspring

Question 6

Explain how scientists share and validate new discovery’s.

Answer 6

They write a paper and send it to a scientific journal. The paper is then checked first by other scientists to see that it is good enough to publish. This is called a peer review. They could also present their discovery to other scientists at a conference. When other scientists hear about the discovery, they will check it by repeating the experiments. If they get the same results, then the discovery is validated.