There aren't really any taxonomic implications, though. The simplistic version of species boundaries presented in many intro bio textbooks--that all interspecific hybrids are sterile or inviable (and therefore, if two organisms can produce fertile offspring they are members of the same species)--doesn't really represent how biological taxonomy works. 150ish years ago, Darwin pointed out that species that are reproductively isolated in nature can often be bred in captivity; and thus captive reproduction is not generally a useful test of species boundaries (even if we take a species concept based on reproductive isolation for granted). This point has been made quite a number of times since Darwin, as well, and remains valid.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]