Race (biology)

This article is about taxonomy. For the system of categorizing human populations, see Race (human categorization).
Four different ecotypes, i.e. ecological races, of the species Physcomitrella patens, stored at the International Moss Stock Center

In biological taxonomy, race is an informal rank in the taxonomic hierarchy for which various definitions exist. Sometimes it is used to denote a level below that of subspecies, while at other times it is used as a synonym for subspecies.[1] It has been used as a higher rank than strain, with several strains making up one race.[2][3] Races may be genetically distinct populations of individuals within the same species,[4] or they may be defined in other ways, e.g. geographically, or physiologically.[5] Genetic isolation between races is not complete, but genetic differences may have accumulated that are not (yet) sufficient to separate species.[6]

The term is recognized by some, but not governed by any of the formal codes of biological nomenclature. Taxonomic units below the level of subspecies are not typically applied to animals.[7]

  1. ^ Keita, S. O. Y.; Kittles, R. A.; Royal, C. D. M.; Bonney, G. E.; Furbert-Harris, P.; Dunston, G. M.; Rotimi, C. N. (2004). "Conceptualizing human variation". Nature Genetics. 36 (11s): S17–S20. doi:10.1038/ng1455. PMID 15507998. Modern human biological variation is not structured into phylogenetic subspecies ('races'), nor are the taxa of the standard anthropological 'racial' classifications breeding populations
  2. ^ Gotoh, T.; Bruin, J.; Sabelis, M. W.; Menken, S. B. J. (1993). "Host race formation in Tetranychus urticae: Genetic differentiation, host plant preference, and mate choice in a tomato and a cucumber strain" (PDF). Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (Submitted manuscript). 68 (2): 171–178. Bibcode:1993EEApp..68..171G. doi:10.1111/j.1570-7458.1993.tb01700.x. S2CID 86180826.
  3. ^ Ritchie, D. F.; Dittapongpitch, V. (1991), "Copper- and streptomycin-resistant strains and host differentiated races of Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria in North Carolina" (PDF), Plant Disease, 75 (7): 733–736, doi:10.1094/pd-75-0733
  4. ^ Walker, Peter M. B., ed. (2004) [1999]. "Race". Chambers Dictionary of Science and Technology. Edinburgh / New Delhi: Chambers Harrap / Allied Chambers. Republished without known revision several times since 1999, and originally published as: The Wordsworth Dictionary of Science and Technology. W. R. Chambers Ltd / Cambridge University Press. 1988.
  5. ^ Morris, Christopher, ed. (1992). "Race". Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology. San Diego / London: Academic Press (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich). "Biology" entry, p. 1777. ISBN 9780122004001. an interbreeding subgroup of a species whose individuals are geographically, physiologically, or chromosomally distinct from other members of the species
  6. ^ Jaenike, J. (1981), "Criteria for Ascertaining the Existence of Host Races", The American Naturalist, 117 (5): 830–834, doi:10.1086/283771, JSTOR 2460772, S2CID 84136840
  7. ^ Haig, S. M.; Beever, E. A.; Chambers, S. M.; Draheim, H. M.; Dugger, B. D. (December 2006). "Taxonomic considerations in listing subspecies under the U.S. Endangered Species Act". Conservation Biology. 20 (6): 1584–1594. Bibcode:2006ConBi..20.1584H. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2006.00530.x. PMID 17181793. S2CID 9745612.