Hybrid speciation in a marine mammal: the clymene dolphin (Stenella clymene).

ABSTRACT: Natural hybridization may result in the exchange of genetic material between divergent lineages and even the formation of new taxa. Many of the Neo-Darwinian architects argued that, particularly for animal clades, natural hybridization was maladaptive. Recent evidence, however, has falsified this hypothesis, instead indicating that this process may lead to increased biodiversity through the formation of new species. Although such cases of hybrid speciation have been described in plants, fish and insects, they are considered exceptionally rare in mammals. Here we present evidence for a marine mammal, Stenella clymene, arising through natural hybridization. We found phylogenetic discordance between mitochondrial and nuclear markers, which, coupled with a pattern of transgressive segregation

SUBMITTER: Amaral AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3885441 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature