Why Is There Only One Species of Human? - Robin May

Robin May appeared on the latest episode of our podcast 'Any Further Questions?' to answer all the questions we didn't have time to get to. Listen on Spotify and Apple now!

What I really love in these science based presentations is that they always say..."maybe", "perhaps", "based on current knowledge".......and so on, unlike some others who claim to know everything, here and now. You know what I mean. ; )

Fst is as high as .46 between Mbuti and New Guineans which is staggering considering the distinction between two different species like Coyotes and Red Wolves is only .08- .1. It seems a lot of animal 'species' should actually be reclassified as belonging to the same species if we use the same universal standard for judgment. Edit: In fact, after doing some more research, domestic cattle (bos taurus) and buffalo (bison bison) are even more closely genetically related (Fst of at most .368) than those two human groups, even though they aren't even classified as the same genus let alone the same species. Something seems to be screwy with our classification system.

I do have a question about the categorisation of species. You noted that there are different species of butterflies that look very similar but are different species. Is that based on your definition of the same species reproducing together? The reason I ask is, do we know that these different species of butterfly can’t reproduce, or is it that they won’t reproduce, which I think are very different things. If they choose not to reproduce with each other but in actual fact could technically reproduce, would they then be the same species? I suppose it’s also very hard to tell because I’m assuming you can’t force two butterflies to reproduce with each other.

We ate the competition.

Dogs and wolves have traditionally been considered separate species, but Alaskan huskies have been successfully interbred with wolves by native Alaskans for thousands of years.

I have ‘watched’ this video but realised it was one of those i played right before sleep. … but the title is actually interesting. So i will watch again, this time for real

In my lifetime, there's been sp much advancement of knowledge on the evolution of our and other species. It's so humbling when someone finds a very distant "ancestor." We're always surprised, too. I find it delightful. Thank you for this great lecture. I love going to class. ❤

I believe we are a hybrid. A hybrid made up of at least 8 other human speices. Some people have more or less dna of a speices than others which is why we have differnt colors and features.

I love how he's so clear and humble at the same time.

35:14 -- I think science is overlooking one potential reason why the Lion Man was created: Because it's really *cool.* Think about it. Imagine a twelve year-old boy living with his people on the grasslands of East Africa. "Bro, what if I had the head... of a *LION.* That would be so cool!"

If species is defined by the ability to have viable offspring and modern humans have Neanderthal DNA, then wouldn’t that make Neanderthals the same species as humans?

Very interesting and thorough, Thank you very much.

"Why is there only one species of Human?" 1min 45 secs into the video..."We don't really know why." Thanks for not waiting until the end of the video to say that.

thoroughly enjoyed that, thanks

It seems to me the human capacity for intentional travel has had the consequence of halting speciation which was already underway 100,000 years ago. I would guess if, as a thought experiment, geologically separate populations of humans were left to themselves on separate continents for another million years, some of those populations would not be regarded as recognizably human by the end of this epoch.

Odd that as broad as the human species is, a scientist can get a ladybug with an extra dot it’s own species.

But if they were interbreeding, doesn't that mean we aren't distinct species?

Arguably, there may be only "one species" of any species. It goes with the word. At the same time, biologists do recognize some subordinate levels of classification within a species, but they are commonly still considered one species. Designations such as subspecies, variant, and landrace all address recognizable variations within a particular population. The fact is that until a strange mix of racism and political correctness came along arguing that Neanderthals could not be H. sapiens, or that it was unfair not to regard Neanderthal as its own species, Neanderthal was often referred to as _H. sapiens neanderthalensis_, a subspecies of _H. sapiens_.

I'm glad he talked about the possibility of Bigfoot and Yedi in the beginning (first 7 minutes).