The great majority of microbial species remains uncultured, severely limiting their taxonomic
characterization and thus communication among scientists. Although Candidatus was …

The notion that all prokaryotes belong to genomically and phenomically cohesive clusters
that we might legitimately call “species” is a contentious one. At issue are (1) whether such …

The species problem has triggered the publication of an almost infinite number of theoretical
and practical studies, including quite a number of books. I should, therefore, perhaps briefly …

Scientific disciplines frequently divide the particulars they study into kinds and theorize
about those kinds. To say that a kind is natural is to say that it corresponds to a grouping that …

An essential introduction to the philosophy of biology This is a concise, comprehensive, and
accessible introduction to the philosophy of biology written by a leading authority on the …

Microbes and microbiology are seldom encountered in philosophical accounts of the life
sciences. Although microbiology is a well-established science and microbes the basis of life …

The article defends the doctrine that Linnaean taxa, including species, have essences that
are, at least partly, underlying intrinsic, mostly genetic, properties. The consensus among …

The nature of species is controversial in biology and philosophy. Biologists disagree on the
definition of the term 'species,'and philosophers disagree over the ontological status of …

A near consensus in the philosophy of biology holds that traditional essentialism is a
mistaken view of biological kinds, such as species. Traditional essentialists hold that natural …

Background The concept of a tree of life is prevalent in the evolutionary literature. It stems
from attempting to obtain a grand unified natural system that reflects a recurrent process of …