Tamra Mendelson
Associate ProfessorUniversity of Maryland Baltimore County
Biological Sciences
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, 21250
United States
Website
Abstracts (first author)
What is "species recognition"?
Summary:
The concept of “species recognition” is widely used in the study of animal communication, typically referring to the tendency of organisms to distinguish members of their own species from heterospecifics. Yet, it is difficult to pinpoint a consensus definition of the concept, and close inspection reveals a host of underlying assumptions. First, I discuss definitions and underlying assumptions of species recognition as used in the literature and identify where these assumptions are either untested or logically flawed. I then discuss the implications of species recognition for the question of whether non-human animals have species concepts and articulate directions for research into the cognitive architecture of species boundaries in nature.