Scientists discovered a new species of butterfly that arise from the merging of two distinct species!
Lycaeides Melissa and Lycaeides idas – the genetically distinct butterfly species that initially gave rise to the new hybrids – do not regularly mate. But Zachariah Gompert at Texas State University in San Marcos, US, and colleagues found that when they do mate, they produce offspring that are able to breed with each other and produce further generations.
If two "species" can mate and produce viable offspring then they weren't separate species to begin with. Biologists argue over what constitutes a species all the time.
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It looks pretty credible. I think "newscientist.com" knows what constitutes a species. Besides, new things are happening all the time in science; certainly, nothing is set in stone.
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