wittor t1_jaaf6v4 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 12:35 AM

Reply to comment by HegemonNYC in Revealed: Europe's Oldest Humans had Surprisingly Frequent Intermingling with Neanderthals by OptimalCrew7992

There are many ways to define a species depending on what you are trying to explain. The idea that a species is composed of all individuals that can successfully interbreed is a simplification used for basic learning purposes and is expected to be understood as an approximation to a more complete theory.

HegemonNYC t1_jaavvfj wrote on February 28, 2023 at 2:38 AM

Does more complete theory have a definition that is objective?

wittor t1_jab6jyb wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:03 AM

All scientific based definitions are objective and can be used for classification purposes. It is basically useless to try to find a single answer, but the debate is extremely profitable.
This is a better explanation than I can give you https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-species-the-most-important-concept-in-all-of-biology-is-a-complete-mystery-119200