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Module 3.1 · Topic 11
Module 3.1 · Topic 11
The point where divergence becomes permanent
Two populations of the same species drift apart for a thousand generations — a little different each generation, never one dramatic break. Somewhere in there, they become two species instead of one. Ask exactly which generation that happened in, and there's no honest answer. The question itself assumes a sharp line that speciation never actually draws.
By the most common definition, what actually makes two populations count as separate species?
By the biological species concept, two populations are considered separate species when they:
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