Hybrid speciation

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/hybrid-speciation

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific term?Hybrid speciation
2. What is the core requirement?Reproductive isolation of the hybrid lineage from parent species
3. How can a new species form from hybrids?When two different species cross, their genes mix. If the offspring can reproduce on their own and stay separate from the parents, they become a new species.
4. Why do scientists think hybrid speciation is common in plants?Scientists used DNA tests in the 1990s and found many new plant species that came from hybrids. DNA shows they have a mix of genes from both parents and can live on their own.

Allopatric Speciation: Formation of new species due to geographic isolation of populations.
Sympatric Speciation: Formation of new species from a single ancestral species while occupying the same geographic region.
Polyploidy: The condition of having more than two complete sets of chromosomes, often arising from hybridization.
Nothospecies: A taxonomic category for hybrid plants, often used when the hybrid is fertile and stable.