"Species" is a broken definition.
So here's the deal. We want the word to be what mathematicians call an "equivalence relation" but it's not. What does this mean? It means that we want three things to be true.
We want
- (reflexivity) Every animal to be in it's own species.
- (symmetry) If animal A is the same species as animal B then animal B is the same species as animal A
- (transitivity) If animal A is the same species as animal B and animal B is the same species as animal C then animal A is the same species as animal C.
By induction, we can extend the chain in the transitivity requirement as long as we want. That is, we can conclude that an animal D is the same species as A if it's the same species as C by saying that
A is the same as C which is the same as D and so D is the same as A. And so on.
This is where it breaks down. We can use transitivity to conclude that we are the same species as the lobe finned fish which is an ancestor to all tetrapods. We do this by saying. I'm the same species as my mother. My mother is the same species as her mother. I'm the same species as my grandmother. My grandmother is the same species as her mother. I'm the same species as my great grandmother. etc. Eventually, we arrive at a lobe finned fish which is pretty cool.
What's troubling me is that it doesn't break down at a particular point. Every step is valid and yet the whole conclusion is plainly invalid because I am not the same species as any lobe finned fish.
Any thoughts?