Question

An example of reproductive isolation is
A. Mule
B. Bonellia
C. Dinosaurs
D. Archaeopteryx

Answer 1

Hint: The presence of physical barriers and biotic barriers that prevents the mating between the interbreeding groups is known as reproductive isolation. It leads to the ancestry of the new people. It may be premating or post-mating. In simple words, it defines the precluding of mating among the population of 2 different species.

Complete answer:
Reproductive isolation is defined as the group of barriers that prohibit creatures of a similar group from mating. These are reproductive obstacles that do not enable the species to copulate and give birth to progeny. There are mainly two main barriers:
The prezygotic barriers are present before an egg can be fertilized. It includes temporal, ecological, behavioral, and Mechanical barriers. The post-zygotic barriers are present after the egg can be fertilized. It includes Gametic incompatibility (means where sperm and ovum are incompatible and unable to transfer genetic code) and Zygote mortality (sperm and egg have fused but the zygote dies without further development).
Low hybrid viability is the type of reproductive isolation found in Mule. When the horses and donkeys can mate. They give origin to offspring and the offspring produced by them is referred to as Mule. Mule is infertile. They cannot pass their genetic information to the coming generation. So they are referred to as a genetic dead-end animal. In mules, no gene flow occurs.
So the right answer is option A i.e. Mule.

Note:
- Temporal barrier: species never mate because they have a different mating season.
- Ecological: species never mate because they have different food habits, living in a different habitat, or mating in different areas.
- Behavioural: mating among the species does not occur because one does not know about the mating traditions of other species. Mechanical isolation: animals try to mate but they are physically unable.