Species

The species is a biological classification comprising organisms that are related and share common characteristics and also are capable of breeding within the same individuals known as interbreeding. In biology, this biological species concept is vastly used and also related in the fields of study. In biology, there are more than 20 other different species concepts present.  

Some topics included are the ecological species concept, this species concept describes a species as a group of organisms that are framed by the assets they depend on (their ecological niche, in other words). The genetic species concept considers all organisms which are capable of taking over traits from one another individuals within a common gene pool and the number of genetic differences between populations of that species.

Like in the biological species concept, the individuals that are capable of interbreeding are considered by the genetic species concept as well as the amount of genetic difference between the groups of the species.

Taxonomy

The species designation originates in taxonomy, in taxonomy the species is the fundamental unit of classification recognized by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature. Usually, every group of species is allocated a standard two-part name of genus and species. The generic name includes closely related species known as genera for example; the gray wolf. 

The gray wolf is classified as Canis lupus and is also known as a close relative of the coyote animal found in North America and is named Canis latrans,  by sharing the same genus, their systematic relation is indicated by the name Canis. Similarly, genera that show that they share the same characteristics or traits are also classified in the same taxonomic family(families that are related are placed in the same order). And the classes that are related are placed in the same phylum. 

According to their morphological, or external, similarities, organisms are grouped into species. However, the more important task is classifying sexually reproducible organisms(organisms’ capability to successfully interbreed). Individuals of any single particular species can mate and produce feasible offspring with one another but practically never with members of other species present. 

But in recent years separate species are seen to breed and also produce successful offspring known as hybrids, for example; the horse and the donkey produce the mule by mating. But the interbreeding is always not labelled as successful because the offspring are almost always inviable or sterile. 

Interbreeding done only within the same species is of great importance for evolution for that group, in that individuals of one same species share a common gene pool that members of other different species do not. There is always a certain amount of variation among individuals within the same gene pool. 

The process of natural selection in genus results in the gene pool’s evolution in such a way that the variations that are in advantage, become the norm ones. 

Speciation

The groups present at the first stage of speciation are known as subspecies. Individuals of different subspecies are allowed to interbreed, but they produce many sterile male offspring. At the second stage of speciation, there are incipient species or semispecies, in this stage the groups seldomly mate and mostly all of their male offspring produced are sterile. 

The separation of incipient species into sibling species is done by natural selection, which does not interbreed at all but in morphology, or structure and form, these characteristics are nearly indistinguishable. Sibling species are then evolved into morphologically (also known as taxonomically) different species. Between subspecies and stable species, it is often difficult to distinguish. A species is from one another when there is a parental pattern of family tree and descent.

Do you know the species name for goats? The species name for goats is Capra aegagrus hircus. A genus of mammals are known as Capra, the goats are nearly composed of up to nine species that include the markhor and many species known as ibexes. The domestic goat (Capra hircus) is a domesticated species derived from the wild goat (Capra aegagrus).  

Likewise, speciation may occur in various ways for example; A population may be separated geographically from the rest of its species present there and never be retorted. This process of separation is known as adaptive radiation, the entire population might get evolved not depending on each other and evolving into a completely new species, changing their ways to fit into particular ecological niches in the new environment and never requiring natural selection to complete its reproductive isolation from the parent species. 

Genus

The plural of the genus known as generic is the biological classification ranking between family and the species, which consists of structurally or phylogenetically related species or also a single outlying species showing or exhibiting abnormal and unusual differentiation (known as monotypic genus). 

The first word of a binomial scientific name (the species name is put on the second word) and is always capitalized is written as a genus name. An example of genus naming is a plant genus that contains many species known as Rosa, which approximately contains more or less than 100 species of roses. 

However, in contrast, the Ginkgo genus is monotypic and contains only the common name Ginkgo (also known as the maidenhair tree).

Conclusion

The basic units of biological classification are called species and hence this species term is most commonly related to the term ‘biodiversity’. We can simply define species biodiversity as the number and plenty of species found in a particular given biological organization such as population, ecosystem, and Earth. 

Still, many environments and particular groups of organisms are not discovered and not well studied yet. Species biodiversity is important for economic, biological, social, and as well as cultural reasons. Rapid loss of habitat and fragmentation, overexploitation of natural resources such as fishing, hunting, extraction, pollution, the introduction of invasive species (e.g. Asian Green Mussels), and also global climatic change are the major threats to Species biodiversity.