THE SPECIES CONCEPT, THEMATIC SUBJECT IN NATURAL SCIENCES – THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES OF EMIL G. RACOVITZA AND NICOLAE BOTNARIUC

Abstract

Species concepts represent one of the “hot” topics of the current evolutionary biology. The Romanian natural scientists EMIL G. RACOVITZA and NICOLAE BOTNARIUC defined animal species in different ways: EMIL G. RACOVITZA supported a Genealogic species concept, expressed as “a colony of isolated consanguines”. The RACOVITZA’s concept considers species as homogenous lineages of organisms which evolve during their history. Description of such entities requires the recognition of primitive and derived states of the morphologic traits. Hence EMIL G. RACOVITZA’s ideas preceded the principles of phylogenetic systematics of WILLY HENNIG and his followers. Geographic isolation is viewed by RACOVITZA as one of the main drivers of the speciation process. NICOLAE BOTNARIUC developed an innovative Systems-species concept where quasiindependent organisms through their relationships within populations build a supraindividual system. The integrative properties of the population offer the necessary traits allowing the identification of species. Evolution is the emergent property of species (represented by populations) within the context of ecosystems and within the interpopulation relationships of a biocoenosis (the next level of the organizational hierarchy of the living matter). NICOLAE BOTNARIUC applied his concept to interbreeding and agamous populations. In this latter case the exchange of genetic information is realised through the self-reproducing individuals changing, under selection pressure, the clonal genetic structure of the population. The systems-species concept of BOTNARIUC applies to populations living within a wide spectrum of ecological conditions and existing during various time-frames; it offers a different perspective as compared to the narrow ecological species-concept of VAN VALEN. Recent research offers additional confirmation of the views of the two Romanian biologists. It is argued that the species-concepts discussed should be used within a pluralistic cultural framework of the evolutionary systems biology. Finally, it is emphasized that the ideas of EMIL G. RACOVITZA and NICOLAE BOTNARIUC should represent stimulating arguments for new innovative research projects