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Hybrid Breakdown

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State

Hybrid breakdown is a postzygotic barrier where first-generation hybrids are viable and fertile, but their own offspring in later generations show reduced fitness.

Show

A first-generation hybrid that reproduces successfully, but whose second-generation offspring are weak or sterile, shows hybrid breakdown a generation later.

Watch for

Hybrid breakdown's failure surfaces only in the hybrid's descendants — the first-generation hybrid can appear entirely healthy and fertile.