How is it determined when a species of animal for food production is meaningfully unique to have their own name like iberico pig vs “normal pig”, angus cows vs “normal cows” or the “the different species of edible duck”?
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It’s a combination of different factors, mostly what they’re eating, and their breed.
Angus and Iberian are specific “brands” and they are bound to a level of excellence and standards.
Scientists use taxonomy, which is a fairly rigid system. Generally a new species is born when it is sufficiently different from the species that it evolved from that the two can’t breed.
Taxonomy is useful for scientists, but not so much for casual conversation. For example there is no such thing as a fish in evolutionary science. For regular speech an animal is unique if the average person thinks it is. Cows are different from bison because we treat the animals differently, not because of any scientific basis.
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