Why are there so many different animal species, but just one human race?
1) All human are members of the human species, one of the many animal species. If you want to find some unit of which we are one of many, you have to go up to the next classification level, “genus”: “Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be about 2.5 million years old, evolving from Australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis. Appearance of Homo coincides with the first evidence of stone tools (the Oldowan industry), and thus by definition with the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic.” Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_(genus%29 “In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are often used, such as based on similarity of DNA or morpho
Different Species of the same genus can certainly interbreed. When two species interbreed it is called a Hybrid. For example, two species of roses, let’s say Rosa Rugosa and Rosa Carolina, can be crossed (mated) and will produce a hybrid that belongs to neither species. In a mamillian example, domestic horses and mules bred together create a hybrid called a donkey. Horses can also be bred with zebras. Dogs can be bred with wolves. These are all different species interbreeding to create hybrids. We know that there were several different human species in the past, but I also believe there are different human species in existence today. However since classifying every living thing into different species has only occurred fairly recently in history and the fact that humans were not believed to be mere animals until later in the 20th Century all humans were lumped into one species. It should be noted that no human species in existence today is superior to any of the the others.
