This is such a juicy subject that I have to join (just for a little). It's always good remember that no one knows what a species truly is. Taxonomy and the latest and fanciest science could not yet tell us that yet. However, taxonomy has been pretty good at *recognizing* species. What we humans recognize as species does not make something a species, but it has its practical purposes. On Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 5:46 PM, Jim McKenney <jamesamckenney@verizon.net>wrote: > In my book, while there is no interbreeding, they are different species. > Should they return to interbreeding, they they become the same species again > Jim, your book follows the animal model pretty closely -- that is the biological species concept. It only works with organisms that mate, and there is a huge diversity out there that don't mate, and there are a number of other species concepts that are used to recognize the asexual organisms. It is also a problem with plants too since plants from different genera and even families could hybridize, but I'm sure you meant no interbreeding in the wild, not in our gardens. Nhu