The nature and origins of primate species

Abstract

The living world has genetic discontinuity in it, and morphological discontinuity as well. Patterns of these discontinuities overlap to a large extent. When they do, species discrimination is unambiguous. But directly at the point of cladogenesis, there are parallel sets of processes occurring, which result in patterns that can be difficult to reconcile in a single term such as speciation. Primate “species,” living and extinct, exhibit various degrees of morphological discontinuity and genetic incompatibility, which implies that a single concept of speciation may be difficult to apply universally.