Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical 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 appropriate s ...

. Biochemist Linus Pauling 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 Hominini form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae ("hominines"). Hominini includes the extant genera ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos) and in standard usage excludes the genus ''Gorilla'' (gorillas). The t ...

. 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 (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 chromosom ...

. While chimpanzees may have the APOE gene, 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 neurodegeneration, 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 short-term me ...

. 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 theor ...

such as

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

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 cultures u ...

, 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

. These may include: * Interspecies communication, 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 Interspecific feeding refers to behaviour reported in wild animals, particularly birds where adults of one species feed the young of another species. This usually excludes the case of birds feeding brood parasites. The behaviour has been of theoret ...

, when adults of one species feed the young of another species *

Interspecific hybrid In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...

ization, 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 Interspecific pregnancy (literally ''pregnancy between species'', also called interspecies pregnancy or xenopregnancy)Page 126 in: is the pregnancy involving an embryo or fetus belonging to another species than the carrier. Strictly, it excludes ...

, pregnancy involving an embryo or fetus belonging to another species than the carrier

Intraspecific

Intraspecificity (literally ''within species''), or being intraspecific, describes behaviors, biochemical variations and other issues within individuals of a single

. These may include: *

Intraspecific antagonism Intraspecific antagonism means a disharmonious or antagonistic interaction between two individuals of the same species. As such, it could be a sociological term, but was actually coined by Alan Rayner and Norman Todd working at Exeter University in ...

, when individuals of the same species are hostile to one another *

Intraspecific competition Intraspecific competition is an interaction in population ecology, whereby members of the same species compete for limited resources. This leads to a reduction in fitness for both individuals, but the more fit individual survives and is able to r ...

, when individuals or groups of individuals from the same species compete for the same resource in an ecosystem *

Intraspecific hybrid In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in ...

ization, hybridization between sub-species within a species. *

Intraspecific mimicry In zoology, automimicry, Browerian mimicry, or intraspecific mimicry, is a form of mimicry in which the same species of animal is imitated. There are two different forms. In one form, first described by Lincoln Brower in 1967, weakly-defended m ...

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 ...

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 using a ...

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

. Where different species can interbreed and their gametes compete, the conspecific gametes take precedence over heterospecific gametes. This is known as conspecific

sperm precedence Sperm precedence, also known as sperm predominance, is tendency of a female who has been bred by multiple males to give birth to their offspring in unequal proportions. Sperm precedence is an important factor in the sperm competition. Sperm pr ...

, or conspecific pollen precedence in plants.

Heterospecific

The antonym 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 extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

References

External links

{{Wiktionary, conspecific, confamilial Evolutionary biology concepts