Re: Hybrids

Anders Sandberg (nv91-asa@nada.kth.se)
Thu, 24 Jul 1997 12:45:53 +0200 (MET DST)

I think hybrids *can* play a role in speciation, but they certainly
don't explain how the process got started. After all, if you just
have one species it cannot hybridize.

It should be noted that the concept species is rather fuzzy; it isn't
as clear-cut as it is explained in elementary biology textbooks.
There is for example a seagull (I think it was) that lives along the
arctic coast from Norway to eastern Siberia. The norwegian and east
siberian birds cannot interbreed, but both can breed with the west
siberian birds (species splitting in action?).

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