Species complex

A group of closely related species whose boundaries are difficult to distinguish or define. Members may look alike while differing genetically, ecologically, or reproductively.

Species: A basic unit of biological classification, commonly defined by shared ancestry, traits, or capacity to interbreed. A complex groups multiple putative species, so its boundaries depend on what counts as a species.
Morphological species concept: A species concept that distinguishes species by observable structural characteristics. Morphology alone can miss lineages whose visible forms overlap.
Anopheles gambiae complex: A group of closely related African mosquitoes that includes major malaria vectors. Its members differ in ecology and disease transmission despite close resemblance.
Taxonomy: The science of identifying, naming, and classifying organisms. Revisions to a complex can change its members’ scientific names and classification.
Genomics: The study of an organism’s complete DNA content and its interactions. Genome-wide data can reveal lineages that a small set of markers misses.
Species delimitation: The process of identifying and drawing boundaries between species using biological evidence. It supplies the methods used to decide whether a complex contains distinct species.
DNA barcoding: Species identification using short, standardized DNA sequences from an organism. Barcode differences can flag candidate species hidden within a complex.
Drosophila melanogaster species group: A group of closely related fruit fly species that includes Drosophila melanogaster. Its members provide a model for studying reproductive isolation and recent divergence.
Biodiversity: The variety of life across genes, species, and ecosystems. Undetected species within complexes can make biodiversity estimates too low.
Metagenomics: The analysis of genetic material recovered directly from environmental or host samples. It can uncover poorly sampled microbial diversity that complicates species boundaries.

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