To explain how populations with distinct warning signals coexist in close parapatry, we experimentally assessed intrinsic mechanisms acting as reproductive barriers within three Ranitomeya poison-frog species. For all species, assortative mating did not occur, nor did a survival disadvantage for inter-population hybrids. However, in Ranitomeya fantastica , these hybrids of the male sex are sterile, an outcome predicted by Haldane’s rule. Our results suggest a possible XY sex determinism in R. fantastica , and show that this process is associated with an extraordinary diversity, leading to speciation.
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Lorioux-Chevalier et al. (2024) studied this question.
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