Articles | Volume 61, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/aab-61-229-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/aab-61-229-2018
Original study
 | 
14 Jun 2018
Original study |  | 14 Jun 2018

Possible mathematical definitions of the biological term “breed”

Gregor Langer

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Cited articles

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Baker, A. N., Smith, A. N. H., and Pichler, F. B.: Geographical variation in Hector's dolphin: Recognition of new subspecies of Cephalorhynchus hectori, J. Roy. Soc. New Zeal., 32, 713–727, 2002. a
Baumung, R., Cubric-Curik, V., Schwend, K., Achmann, R., and Sölkner, J.: Genetic characterisation and breed assignment in Austrian sheep breeds using microsatellite marker information, J. Anim. Breed. Genet., 123, 265–271, 2006. a
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Short summary
For scientific discussions it is necessary to clearly define the terms used; otherwise, scientific statements are open to interpretation which hampers the scientific progress. A clear specification of scientific terms can be reached via mathematical definitions. In this paper, four mathematical definitions of the term "breed" for gonochoric species are proposed. Although all proposed definitions are consistent with common word-based definitions, the result of the whippet test differs.