The biological species concept (BSC) is the cornerstone of neo-Darwinian thinking. In BSC, species do not exchange genes either during or after speciation. However, as gene flow during speciation is increasingly being reported in a substantial literature, it seems time to reassess the revered, but often doubted, BSC. Contrary to the common perception, BSC should expect substantial gene flow at the onset of speciation, not least because geographical isolation develops gradually. Although BSC does not stipulate how speciation begins, it does require a sustained period of isolation for speciation to complete its course. Evidence against BSC must demonstrate that the observed gene flow does not merely occur at the onset of speciation but continues until its completion. Importantly, recent genomic analyses cannot reject this more realistic version of BSC, although future analyses may still prove it wrong. The ultimate acceptance or rejection of BSC is not merely about a historical debate; rather, it is about the fundamental nature of species – are species (and, hence, divergent adaptations) driven by a relatively small number of genes, or by thousands of them? Many levels of biology, ranging from taxonomy to biodiversity, depend on this resolution.

中文翻译：

---

基因和物种形成：是时候放弃生物物种概念了吗？


生物物种概念（BSC）是新达尔文思想的基石。在BSC中，物种在物种形成期间或之后不会交换基因。然而，随着物种形成过程中的基因流越来越多地被大量文献报道，似乎是时候重新评估备受推崇但经常受到质疑的平衡计分卡了。与普遍看法相反，BSC 应该预期在物种形成开始时会出现大量基因流动，尤其是因为地理隔离是逐渐发展的。尽管 BSC 没有规定物种形成是如何开始的，但它确实需要一段持续的隔离期才能完成物种形成的过程。反对 BSC 的证据必须证明观察到的基因流不仅发生在物种形成开始时，而且会持续到其完成。重要的是，最近的基因组分析不能拒绝这种更现实的平衡计分卡版本，尽管未来的分析可能仍然证明它是错误的。最终接受或拒绝平衡计分卡不仅仅是一个历史争论；相反，它是关于物种的基本性质——物种（以及因此不同的适应）是由相对较少的基因驱动的，还是由数千个基因驱动的？从分类学到生物多样性的许多生物学层面都依赖于这一分辨率。