Do Species Exist? Principles of Taxonomic Classification

A readily comprehensible guide for biologists, field taxonomists and interested laymen to one of the oldest problems in biology: the species problem. Written by a geneticist with extensive experience in field taxonomy, this practical book provides the sound scientific background to the problems arising with classifying organisms according to species. It covers the main current theories of specification and gives a number of examples that cannot be explained by any single theory alone.

Currently a professor in D?sseldorf, Germany,
Werner Kunz studied biology, chemistry, and physics
in M?nster and spent two postdoc years at Yale University
in New Haven, U.S.A. Although he was educated
as a zoologist, he switched to Drosophila genetics and
worked on chromosomes and ribosomal DNA.
He later changed his field of interest again, carrying
out research into molecular parasitology, and for the
past ten years has been participating in the teaching
of philosophy of science. Professor Kunz continues the
hobby he began at a very early age, photographing birds
and butterflies as a field biologist all over the globe.

Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Are species constructs of the human mind?
Why is there a species problem?
What are traits in taxonomy?
Diversity within the species: polymorphisms and the polytypic species
Biological species as a gene-flow community
The cohesion of organisms through genealogical lineage (cladistics)
Outlook
Glossary