All articles tagged with #hybrid species
The article discusses the bizarre reproductive strategy of Iberian harvester ant queens, who clone male builder ants from another species to create a dependent hybrid workforce, a practice called 'xenoparity,' highlighting a unique and complex form of interspecies dependency and evolution in ants.
A 140,000-year-old skull from Israel suggests early interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, challenging previous timelines and indicating complex social behaviors like burial rituals among hybrid individuals, reshaping understanding of human evolutionary history.
In the 1920s, scientists in Florida successfully created a 'humanzee' by inseminating a female chimpanzee with human sperm, resulting in a live birth. The hybrid was euthanized shortly after due to ethical concerns. This controversial experiment highlights ongoing debates about the moral implications of creating human-animal hybrids, which some scientists believe could advance organ transplant research.
Montana rancher illegally created giant hybrid sheep by using genetic material from the threatened Marco Polo argali sheep, selling them for hunting at high prices. Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80, pleaded guilty to felony wildlife counts and faces up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000. He created more than 150 cloned embryos and successfully bred a male Marco Polo argali, selling its offspring for $10,000. Schubarth's scheme violated state and federal laws, potentially threatening the integrity of wildlife species in Montana. He is set to be sentenced on July 11.
Researchers conducting a 144-year-long experiment on "zombie seeds" buried by botanist William Beal have discovered a surprising hybrid plant among the buried buds. The 16th bottle contained a genetic mix of two different species of Verbascum, one of which was deliberately not included in the experiment. The discovery was made through DNA analysis, which would have amazed Beal since DNA was unknown at the time. The researchers are unsure how the hybrid was created but speculate that Beal mistook the seed for a regular one. The experiment, which aims to determine the viability of dormant seeds, may need to extend the time between bottle extractions to every 30 years as only four bottles remain.