We’ve been talking about branches on the Tree of Life for weeks now, so I figured it was time to talk about what a species even is. And what the hell does it have to do with conservation? Why does it matter if there is one species of River dolphins in the river basins of Brazil or three? Why do we care how many species of humpback dolphins there are in the world—especially if you need genetics to distinguish them?

Full show notes, references, and transcript: https://katehildenbrand.com/episode/what-the-hell-is-a-species/

CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 02:04 - Definitions in Bio 03:37 - Species Names Change 05:23 - Taxonomic Ranks 06:59 - It's Not That Simple 09:06 - Measuring Biodiversity 10:25 - What's a Species 11:58 - Problems with Bio Species System 14:57 - Phylogenetic Species Concept 16:33 - Amazon River Dolphins 19:38 - Why Does it Matter?