Biological specificity

In biology, biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species.

Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organisms or constituents of living organisms of being special or doing something special. Each animal or plant species is special. It differs in some way from all other species...biological specificity is the major problem about understanding life."[1]

Subtopics

Characteristics may further be described as being interspecific, intraspecific, and conspecific.

Interspecific

Interspecificity (literally between/among species), or being interspecific, describes issues between individuals of separate species. These may include:

  • Interspecies communication, communication between different species of animals, plants, fungi or bacteria
  • Interspecific competition, when individuals of different species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem
  • Interspecific feeding, when adults of one species feed the young of another species
  • Interspecific hybridization, when two species within the same genus generate offspring. Offspring may develop into adults but may be sterile. [8]
  • Interspecific interaction, the effects organisms in a community have on one another
  • Interspecific pregnancy, pregnancy involving an embryo or fetus belonging to another species than the carrier

Intraspecific

Intraspecificity (literally within species), or being intraspecific, describes behaviors, biochemical variations and other issues within individuals of a single species. These may include:

  • Intraspecific antagonism, when individuals of the same species are hostile to one another
  • Intraspecific competition, when individuals or groups of individuals from the same species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem
  • Intraspecific hybridization, hybridization between sub-species within a species. [9]
  • Intraspecific mimicry

Conspecific

Two or more individual organisms, populations, or taxa are conspecific if they belong to the same species.[10] Where different species can interbreed and their gametes compete, the conspecific gametes take precedence over heterospecific gametes. This is known as conspecific sperm precedence, or conspecific pollen precedence in plants.

Heterospecific

The antonym of conspecificity is the term heterospecificity: two individuals are heterospecific if they are considered to belong to different biological species.[11]

Not to be confused with Congenic.

Congeners are organisms within the same genus.[12]

See also

References
  1. Linus Pauling, Barbara Marinacci, Linus Pauling in His Own Words: Selections From His Writings, Speeches and Interviews, (1995), p. 96.
  2. Yi, Sang-hŭi (Professor of anthropology) (2018), Close encounters with humankind : a paleoanthropologist investigates our evolving species, Highbridge Audio, ISBN 978-1-68441-033-0, OCLC 1027041581, retrieved 2020-05-22
  3. Bleibtreu, Hermann K. (1969). Evolutionary anthropology; a reader in human biology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
  4. Yi, Sang-hŭi (Professor of anthropology) (2018), Close encounters with humankind : a paleoanthropologist investigates our evolving species, Highbridge Audio, ISBN 978-1-68441-033-0, OCLC 1027041581, retrieved 2020-05-22
  5. McIntosh, Annick M.; Bennett, Calvin; Dickson, Dara; Anestis, Stephanie F.; Watts, David P.; Webster, Timothy H.; Fontenot, M. Babette; Bradley, Brenda J. (2012-10-24). "The Apolipoprotein E (APOE) Gene Appears Functionally Monomorphic in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)". PLoS ONE. 7 (10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0047760. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3480407. PMID 23112842.
  6. Hallinan, Matthew Brennis.; University of California, Berkeley. (1980). Culture and human nature: an anthropological inquiry into the human phenomenon.
  7. Hallinan, Matthew Brennis.; University of California, Berkeley. (1980). Culture and human nature: an anthropological inquiry into the human phenomenon.
  8. "Interspecific hybridization Definition and Examples - Biology Online Dictionary". Biology Articles, Tutorials & Dictionary Online. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  9. "Intraspecific hybridization Definition and Examples - Biology Online Dictionary". Biology Articles, Tutorials & Dictionary Online. 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  10. "Conspecificity". Biology online. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  11. "Heterospecificity". Biology online. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  12. Congener, Merriam-Webster.com. Accessed 2009-03-25
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