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Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a
biochemical Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology an ...
variation to occur in a particular
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
. Biochemist
Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topi ...
stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organisms or constituents of living organisms of being special or doing something special. Each animal or plant species is special. It differs in some way from all other species...biological specificity is the major problem about understanding life."


Biological specificity within ''Homo sapiens''

''
Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture ...
'' has many characteristics that show the biological specificity in the form of behavior and morphological traits. Morphologically, humans have an enlarged cranial capacity and more gracile features in comparison to other hominins. The reduction of dentition is a feature that allows for the advantage of adaptability in diet and survival. As a species, humans are culture dependent and much of human survival relies on the culture and social relationships. With the evolutionary change of the reduction of the pelvis and enlarged cranial capacity; events like childbirth are dependent on a safe, social setting to assist in the childbirth; a birthing mother will seek others when going into labor. This is a uniquely human experience, as other animals are able to give birth on their own and often choose to isolate themselves to do so to protect their young. An example of a genetic adaptation unique to humans is the gene
apolipoprotein E Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a protein involved in the metabolism of fats in the body of mammals. A subtype is implicated in Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease. APOE belongs to a family of fat-binding proteins called apolipoproteins. ...
(APOE4) on
chromosome 19 Chromosome 19 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. People normally have two copies of this chromosome. Chromosome 19 spans more than 58.6 million base pairs, the building material of DNA. It is considered the most gene-rich chromos ...
. While chimpanzees may have the
APOE gene Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a protein involved in the metabolism of fats in the body of mammals. A subtype is implicated in Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease. APOE belongs to a family of fat-binding proteins called apolipoproteins. ...
, the study “The apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene appears functionally monomorphic in chimpanzees” shows that the diversity of the APOE gene in humans in unique. The polymorphism in APOE is only in humans as they carry alleles APOE2, APOE3, APOE4; APOE4 which allows human to break down fatty protein and eat more protein than their ancestors is also a genomic risk factor for
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...
. There are many behavioral characteristics that are specific to ''Homo sapiens'' in addition to childbirth. Specific and elaborate tool creation and use and language are other areas. Humans do not simply communicate; language is essential to their survival and complex culture. This culture must be learned, is variable and highly malleable to fit distinct social parameters. Humans do not simply communicate with a code or general understanding, but adhere to social standards, hierarchies, technologies, complex system of regulations and must maintain many dimensions of relationships in order to survive. This complexity of language and the dependence on culture is uniquely human. Intraspecific behaviors and variations exist within ''Homo sapiens'' which adds to the complexity of culture and language. Intraspecific variations are differences in behavior or biology within a species. These variations and the complexity within our society lead to
social constructs Social constructionism is a theory in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory which proposes that certain ideas about physical reality arise from collaborative consensus, instead of pure observation of said reality. The theory ...
such as race,
gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most culture ...
, and roles. These add to power dynamics and hierarchies within the already multifaceted society.


Subtopics

Characteristics may further be described as being interspecific, intraspecific, and conspecific.


Interspecific

Interspecificity (literally ''between/among species''), or being interspecific, describes issues between individuals of separate
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
. These may include: *
Interspecies communication Interspecies communication is communication between different species of animals, plants, or microorganisms. Mutualism Cooperative interspecies communication implies sharing and understanding information between two or more species that work tow ...
, communication between different species of animals, plants, fungi or bacteria *
Interspecific competition Interspecific competition, in ecology, is a form of competition in which individuals of ''different'' species compete for the same resources in an ecosystem (e.g. food or living space). This can be contrasted with mutualism, a type of symbiosis. ...
, when individuals of different species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem * Interspecific feeding, when adults of one species feed the young of another species * Interspecific hybridization, when two species within the same genus generate offspring. Offspring may develop into adults but may be sterile. *
Interspecific interaction Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
, the effects organisms in a community have on one another * Interspecific pregnancy, pregnancy involving an embryo or fetus belonging to another species than the carrier


Intraspecific

Intraspecificity (literally ''within species''), or being intraspecific, describes behaviors,
biochemical Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology an ...
variations and other issues within individuals of a single
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
. These may include: * Intraspecific antagonism, when individuals of the same species are hostile to one another * Intraspecific competition, when individuals or groups of individuals from the same species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem * Intraspecific hybridization, hybridization between sub-species within a species. * Intraspecific mimicry


Conspecific

Two or more individual
organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells ( cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fu ...
s,
population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...
s, or
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
are conspecific if they belong to the same
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
. Where different species can interbreed and their gametes compete, the conspecific gametes take precedence over heterospecific gametes. This is known as conspecific sperm precedence, or conspecific pollen precedence in plants.


Heterospecific

The
antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...
of conspecificity is the term heterospecificity: two individuals are heterospecific if they are considered to belong to different biological species.


Related concepts

Congeners are organisms within the same
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
.


See also

*
Evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...


References


External links

{{Wiktionary, conspecific, confamilial Evolutionary biology concepts