Phylogenetic Species Concept

Abstract

A large number of “species concepts” have been in use since the 1980s, but the only one that offers testability (repeatability, falsifiability) is the phylogenetic species concept (PSC). This has been much criticized as involving “taxonomic inflation,” but an examination of the PSC shows that it is valid. Fundamentally, species are evolutionary lineages, and the PSC uniquely provides evidence of the existence of such lineages. Show more