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Article: New butterfly: high-alpine species from low-life parents.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- December 2, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Little bluish butterflies high in the Sierra Nevada mountains have an unusual history. Researchers report that these insects belong to one of the few animal species known to have arisen from crossbreeding of two other species.
Crossbreeding of animal species isn't unusual in itself, explains Zachariah Gompert of Texas State University in San Marcos. But the descendants of most hybrid offspring meld back into the parent species or don't compete successfully against the parental lines.
The not-yet-named butterflies in the Lycaeides genus, however, flourish in the harsh zone above the timberline, where the parent species can't cope, Gompert and his ...