Chapter 10: What's in a Species?

• Introduction
• It is unusual to have only one species from an evolutionary group
• Times when there are multiple hominid species: 50 to 100 thousand years.
• Total time that hominids have been around: 1 million years.
• Definitions
• The homo genus is controversial
• Some say that Neanderthals, etc. should be in that genus.
• Some say that Boskops were a separate species.
• Fallacies of the notion of race
• Separate gene pools vs. interbreeding populations.
• Not strict categories
• Eugenics programs
• Have occurred throughout history
• Part of the problem is how do you define "better"
• Surprising list of people who have supported such movements
• Winston Churchill - sterilizing the "feeble minded"
• Alexander Graham Bell - sterilizing the congenitally deaf
• George Bernard Shaw - involved in the eugenics movement
• Races Versus Gene Pools
• Genetic variation in a subgroup is just as common as in the entire population
• May be restricted in what can vary.
• The absolute amount of variation is the same.