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The mechanisms of reproductive isolation have been classified in a number of ways. Zoologist Ernst Mayr classified the mechanisms of reproductive isolation in two broad categories: pre-zygotic for those that act before fertilization (or before mating in the case of animals) and post-zygotic for those that act after it. [5]
[3]: 354 [4] [5] Differences in behavior or biology that inhibit formation of hybrid zygotes are termed prezygotic isolation. Reinforcement can be shown to be occurring (or to have occurred in the past) by measuring the strength of prezygotic isolation in a sympatric population in comparison to an allopatric population of the same species.
For example: If population has the prezygotic isolating allele and the high fitness, post-zygotic alleles and ; and population has the prezygotic allele a and the high fitness, post-zygotic alleles and , both and genotypes will experience recombination in the face of gene flow. Somehow, the populations must be maintained.
A postzygotic mutation (or post-zygotic mutation) is a change in an organism's genome that is acquired during its lifespan, instead of being inherited from its parent(s) through fusion of two haploid gametes. Mutations that occur after the zygote has formed can be caused by a variety of sources that fall under two classes: spontaneous mutations ...
Post-mating isolation occurs between the process of copulation (or pollination) and fertilization—also known as gametic isolation. [1]: 232 Some studies involving gametic isolation in Drosophila fruit flies, [93] ground crickets, [94] and Helianthus plants [95] suggest that there may be a role in ecology; however it is undetermined. [4]
Reproductive isolation between a hybrid species and its parental species can arise from a variety of reproductive barriers either before or after fertilization (prezygotic or postzygotic, respectively), which may themselves be dependent or independent of environmental conditions (extrinsic or intrinsic barriers, respectively). [77]
Hybrid inviability is a post-zygotic barrier, which reduces a hybrid's capacity to mature into a healthy, fit adult. [1] The relatively low health of these hybrids relative to pure-breed individuals prevents gene flow between species.
Support for the reproductive character displacement hypothesis comes from observations of sympatric species in overlapping habitats in nature. Increased prezygotic isolation, which is associated with reproductive character displacement, has been observed in cicadas of genus Magicicada, stickleback fish, and the flowering plants of the genus Phlox.