What is the term for a group of organisms that can reproduce and have fertile offspring

Question

Biology

Kianna Flowers

25 December, 22:58

What is the term for a group of organisms that can reproduce and have fertile offspring

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Answers (1)

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Abdiel Everett · Answer 1

The term 'species' defines a group of organisms that can reproduce and have fertile offspring.

Explanation:

A species is a group of organisms that are closely related and very similar to each other. It is the smallest unit that is evolutionarily independent and is able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring. The inability of related species to breed due to behavioral, geographical, morphological or genetic differences is known as reproductive isolation.

According to the biological species concept, a species consists of individuals from a group that can interbreed and create fertile offspring but cannot breed with other groups (reproductively isolated). The process of speciation in which natural selection increases the reproductive isolation between two populations of species by acting against the production of hybrids of low fitness is known as reinforcement.