eli5 If it’s suspected that early humans interbred with other species of humans, why would they be considered different species since the offspring were obviously fertile?

Question

eli5 If it’s suspected that early humans interbred with other species of humans, why would they be considered different species since the offspring were obviously fertile?

In: 54

Answer 1

The biological species concept- that species are reproductively isolated – has become less and less useful as we’ve gotten a handle on how genomes work.

Classification systems aren’t rules passed down from the category gods- they are made up and changed all the time.

The simple fact is that most everyone feels that the idea they are different species fits better with what we really mean about species being different, regardless of what ‘the rule’ says.