Species integrity enhanced by a predation cost to hybrids in the wild.

ABSTRACT: Species integrity can be challenged, and even eroded, if closely related species can hybridize and produce fertile offspring of comparable fitness to that of parental species. The maintenance of newly diverged or closely related species therefore hinges on the establishment and effectiveness of pre- and/or post-zygotic reproductive barriers. Ecological selection, including predation, is often presumed to contribute to reduced hybrid fitness, but field evidence for a predation cost to hybridization remains elusive. Here we provide proof-of-concept for predation on hybrids being a postzygotic barrier to gene flow in the wild. Cyprinid fishes commonly produce fertile, viable hybrid offspring and therefore make excellent study organisms to investigate ecological costs to hybrids. We electronic

SUBMITTER: Nilsson PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5543021 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature