Question

These penguins are all members of the species Aptenodytes patagonicus. What is the difference between a species and a population?

Answer 1

A species refers to the group of similar organisms that can interbreed to produce a viable offspring. For example, Homo sapiens is a species of humans, Panthera leo refers to the species of lions et cetera.

In contrast, a population in ecology refers to the group of organisms of the same species living in a particular area. For example, the deer population in a forest, human population in a town et cetera.

For example, Aptenodytes patagonicus refers to a species of penguins but number of penguins of the same species living in a particular area would make up a penguin population of that area.