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1 December 2003 INITIAL STAGES OF REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION IN TWO SPECIES OF THE ENDANGERED SONORAN TOPMINNOW
Carla R. Hurt, Philip W. Hedrick
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Abstract

Long-term geographic isolation can result in reproductive incompatibilities due to forces such as mutation, genetic drift, and differential selection. In the Sonoran topminnow, molecular genetic studies of mtDNA, microsatellites, and MHC genes have shown that the endangered Gila and Yaqui topminnows are substantially different, suggesting that divergence took place approximately two million years ago. Here we examined hybrid crosses and backcrosses between these two allopatric taxa to evaluate the accumulation of postmating barriers to reproduction. These results are then compared with results from a previous study where male topminnows were shown to mate assortatively with conspecific females. Despite their preference for conspecific mates, both types of interspecific crosses successfully produced offspring. There was evidence of reduced hybrid fitness, including smaller mean brood size and male-biased sex ratio, for some classes of backcrosses. Brood sizes and interbrood intervals varied significantly when hybrids were subdivided into different cross categories. Our results illustrate the importance of distinctly defining hybrid classes in studies of reproductive isolation. To our knowledge, this is the first such detailed evolutionary analysis in endangered fish taxa.

Carla R. Hurt and Philip W. Hedrick "INITIAL STAGES OF REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION IN TWO SPECIES OF THE ENDANGERED SONORAN TOPMINNOW," Evolution 57(12), 2835-2841, (1 December 2003). https://doi.org/10.1554/02-745
Received: 18 December 2002; Accepted: 1 July 2003; Published: 1 December 2003
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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KEYWORDS
backcross
fecundity
hybrid fitness
postmating barriers
sex ratio
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