The typological theory of species classification, which has few adherents today, distinguishes species solely on the ...

Melody on August 7, 2013

Answer choice (C) points out the flaw in the argument. The speaker concludes that typological theory is not acceptable because the mainstream biological theory considers siblings species as separate species because they cannot breed, whereas typological theory does not consider sibling species as separate species. Therefore, the mainstream biological theory considers being able to breed as the classification of a species, whereas the typological theory does not. So the speaker uses a different theory (the mainstream biological theory) as the basis of nullifying the truth of the typological theory. However, we are never presented with evidence of the validity of the mainstream biological theory. So what if the mainstream biological theory disagrees with the typological theory? We have no information on the validity of either. Therefore, it is questionable to conclude that the typological theory is unacceptable on the basis that it conflicts with the mainstream biological theory.

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