Thursday, 13 October 2022

HYBRIDS - THEIR ROLE IN EVOLUTION

 During the class about taxonomy and binomial nomenclature we introduced the definition of species. Many of you brought up the subject of hybrids and questioned if they were considered species or not. Most hybrids are not fertile descendants,so in this case, neither  their progenitors are considered members of the same species nor are they accepted as new species. Nevertheless cross reproduction and the appearance of hybrids is one of the fastest ways of creating new species on the planet and therefore play a vital role in evolution. It has always been known to be frequent in plants. These are considerd new species if they are fertile, reproduce and begin to conquer and adapt to their ecosystem.

 After talking about this in class I came across this national geographic article which I think may be of your interest. Click on the following link to read about this interesting topic!

National Geographic Ligers, zorses, and pizzlies: How animals hybrids happen

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