European toad (below) and Balearic toad. Image - M. Zampiglia
With global warming the natural habitat of a species can be reduced to such an extent that it has to be forced to reproduce with others if it wants to avoid extinction, as is the case with the toads that you can see in the image. The bottom one is a European toad, found in almost the entire continent, while the top one is a Balearic toad, which lives only in the Balearic Islands, Corsica and southern Italy.
Two genetically different animals are reproducing again as the temperature on the planet increases, according to a study.
Hybridization is a phenomenon that, although it is usually natural, if we take into account the impact that human beings have on the planet we see that in a certain way currently we are the ones who are forcing animals and plants to hybridize with each other. Deforestation, the melting of the poles, the advance of the desert and cities, as well as pollution and the introduction of new species, are the main causes of these hybridizations.
While the "invasive" species colonizes a territory without having to worry about predators, the other species delays its reproductive cycle until it coincides with that of the first. And this is something that, if climate projections are taken into account, will happen more frequently in the coming years, according to researchers from the Department of Ecology at the University of Tucson.
Species most similar to each other generally exchange part of their genome as a result of hybridization, resulting in partially viable and fertile specimens; in contrast, the more distant species usually do not conclude with a genetic exchange. That is they can be born with malformations or not born.
But if this hybridization process occurs naturally, as it has been happening until the human being began to have such a great impact on the environment, it carries a series of benefits such as greater resistance to cold or drought.
You can read the study here.