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What happens when a species is the only of its kind? This phenomenon is called a monospecific taxon. Studying these special species can help us better understand not just those sparse groups, but all life on this planet! Join Olivia Gordon for this fun new episode of SciShow!

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Sources:
Homo sapiens
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13621
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4630
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2...
https://humanorigins.si.edu/human-cha...
https://theconversation.com/were-othe...
Welwitschia mirabilis
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27064...
https://doi.org/10.1086/374189
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1...
https://doi.org/10.5642/aliso.2012300...
https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.2039
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026512608982
https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.92.8.1294
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-01208845...
https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcl078
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2...
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/...
Amborella trichopoda
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1241089
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26290...
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1246275
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1248709
Sphenodon punctatus
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.10...
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-009-99...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15751...
https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.1997...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24132...
Orycteropus afer
https://doi.org/10.1038/npg.els.0001578
https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=2...
Limnognathia maerski
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/97...
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2...
https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4687(200...
Ginkgo biloba
https://doi.org/10.5558/tfc68612-5
https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(200...[267:TPOSRI]2.0.CO;2
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13742-016-01...
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-370...
https://e360.yale.edu/features/peter_...

Images:
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:We...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:We...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:We...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Am...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Li...