Quote from: DrGediman on Oct 29, 2010, 11:18:44 AM
Hang on a second.
Wolves and dogs can inter-breed so they are not different species.
If the BSPs are different species. Then they aren't predators. They are a different type of lifeform.
Only reason I am pointing it out is that there is a very pervasive myth that ability to interbreed makes two things the same species, or the same sub-species.
Many people think genetics goes all comes down to genes, when actually it goes all the way down to alleles on the genes.
The alleles effect the expression of the genes, and it is the patterns of gene expression that makes a species unique.
Sometimes you can take genes from another and switch them out, and due to genetic compatibility you still get a living and even fertile offspring, but the pattern of gene expression has been so radically changed that the physical and behavioral characteristics make it no longer fitting into either group properly.
Genetic relatedness does not necessarily mean the same species, nor does ability to have fertile offspring.
Some hybrids have hetero sterility, while some mixtures are very fertile.
Wolves (Canis lupus) and dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are a different species (lupus) than coyotes (Canis latrans),
Wolves can also inter-breed with Coyotes, and produce fertile offspring, but are regarded as two separate species.
There are NO separate genes between a Chiwawa and a Rottweiler, all that difference is controlled by the alleles.
They are even closer related than the various races of humans, whom all also have the same genes, yet the difference in alleles accounts for a difference of less than 1%.
Depending on which two human groups you compare, you will get a difference of anywhere from 0.08% to 0.23%, and that is only when the alleles on ALL the genes have been counted. Some groups have the exact same alleles on some individual genes as well.
So using this data, how does this relate to the Super-Predatorss, and Regular Predators? Are they simply racial differences? Are they sub-species within the same Species? Are they different Species within the same Genus?
Its hard to say. Even on OUR on world our taxonomy system has contradictions.
If we base it on physical differences then how could anybody put a pomeranian in the same species as a Rottweiler? They are regarded as the same species.
If we use genetics as our razor, then why aren't the highland and lowland Gorillas regarded as the same species? The genetic distance between the two species of gorilla, Gorilla gorilla and G. beringei, 0.04%. No accredited zoo would ever put them together. They are treated as two seperate speices all together.
(Guillen, 2005; Jensen-Seaman, 2000).
The genetic distance between the two chimpanzee species is 0.103%. (cooper 1997)
Now get this, the genetic distance between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is <0.08%.
(Nov. 17, 2006. Sequencing and analysis of Neanderthal genomic DNA. Science, 314(5802):1113-1118)
See how complex this is? There is no one prefect way to go about it, as genetic relatedness can still have vast physical and behavior differences.
Humans share 67% of our DNA with a fruit fly, and 98% with a Chimpanzee.
How would we go about accurately categorizing Extra-terrestrials, who look similar, and behave similar? There is no way to know what the genetic difference is, if they have the same genes and only alleles separate them or not.
Even if they have the same genes, and can interbreed, they may avoid doing so due to a behavior that they have become very unique in physical characteristics.
Heck, for all we know they could be two different genders of the exact same group! Offhand I find that unlikely, but really they are so alien to us it is impossible to say for, let alone weather they are a different race, or in fact different species all together.