A recent genomic analysis has revealed that hybridization between two species of fruit fly, Drosophila subobscura and Drosophila melanogaster, has led to a dead end. Researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Toronto used a population genomics approach to study the interspecies hybridization of the two species.

The results showed that while hybridization has occurred between the two species, the resulting offspring are almost all sterile, indicating that the hybridization is not likely to lead to a new species. The researchers suggest that this may be due to the fact that the two species have been evolving separately for millions of years, and the differences between them are too great for successful interbreeding. The researchers also noted that hybridization between the two species may have been more successful in the past when the two species were more genetically similar.

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source: Phys.org