A Blow Against Hybrid Speciation?

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A recent flurry of papers (reviewed here) have presented evidence for homoploid hybrid speciation in insects -- one in Rhagoletis (a fruit fly) and two in butterflies (one in Heliconius and one in Lycaeides). The Rhagoletis paper showed that a hybrid species formed from two other species -- one that feeds on snowberries and one that feeds on blueberries -- native to North America. The hybrid species feeds on an invasive honeysuckle that was introduced from Asia within the last couple of centuries.

The paper on Heliconius butterflies described a hybrid between H. melpomene and H. cydno which has an intermediate wing pattern. The researchers were able to recreate the hybrid species (H. heurippa) in the lab, which is pretty cool. Finally, the paper on Lycaeides showed that a hybrid species in western North America is adapted to alpine environment in the Sierra Nevadas.

A new study on another potential hybrid between H. melpomene and H. cydno. This species, H. pachinus (shown above), which was suspected to have arisen in a similar manner as H. heurippa, turns out to be a close relative of H. cydno. How boring. That means it arose via the tradition bifurcating process. Is there now a cottage industry made up of people desperately searching for more examples of hybrid speciation?

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Wild specimen of the butterfly species, Heliconius heurippa. Researchers recently demonstrated that this species is a naturally-occurring hybrid between H. cydno and H. melpomene. Image: Christian Salcedo / University of Florida, Gainesville. Speciation typically occurs after one lineage splits…
We usually think of speciation as a bifurcating process -- a single lineage splitting into two. The relationships of those species can often be determined using DNA sequences. But we know that there are exceptions, like horizontal gene transfer in bacteria. And hybrid speciation in plants. These…
Scientists have figured out many ways to study the origin of species. They can build evoluitonary trees, to see how species descend from a common ancestor. They can survey islands or mountains or lakes to see how ecological conditions foster the rise of new species. They can look for fossils that…
Walk through the rainforests of Ecuador and you might encounter a beautiful butterfly called Heliconius cydno. It's extremely varied in its colours. Even among one subspecies, H.cydno alithea, you can find individuals with white wingbands and those with yellow. Despite their different hues, they…

Thats so lame. Interspecies sex is way more racy than bifurcation.

By Kevin Zelnio (not verified) on 05 Apr 2007 #permalink