Comment on Dare you to try again

• Sylvartas@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Isn’t it possible that the “new” bird is functionally identical to the extinct one, but achieves this through different genetic mutations ? In that case, would the new bird still be able to breed with the extinct one ?

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  • RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That is true, but there are subspecies which are made from two similar animals, like a horse and donkey make a mule.

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    • Jimmyeatsausage@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Mules are sterile, though. It’s much rarer for different subspecies to make viable, fertile offspring.

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    • Sylvartas@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah, I figured this stuff was way above my biology knowledge. I guess the real question is “what actually makes a subspecies unable to have fertile offspring with another subspecies?”

      And I suspect the answer is a biology paper with a 3 digits number of pages

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