So the United Arab Emirates managed to cross a male camel with aSouth American l

Question

So the United Arab Emirates managed to cross a male camel with aSouth American llama, by artificial insemination, of course. Theyshare a common ancestor about 30 million years ago in NorthAmerica. We were instructed to tell what the "experiment" says aboutthe breeding barriers and reproductive isolation, and also todescribe all the breeding barriers that would prevent this type ofhybrid from occurring without scientists' intervention. Do youthink the production of these "camas" demonstrates that camels andllamas belong to the same species?
My answers were that there are numbers of barriers, and Itouched upon the habitat isolation , and allopatric speciation.Also I said that obviously if they had descended from a commonancestor, they were part of the same species...
Am I on the right track? Any suggestions? Thank you. We were instructed to tell what the "experiment" says aboutthe breeding barriers and reproductive isolation, and also todescribe all the breeding barriers that would prevent this type ofhybrid from occurring without scientists' intervention. Do youthink the production of these "camas" demonstrates that camels andllamas belong to the same species?
My answers were that there are numbers of barriers, and Itouched upon the habitat isolation , and allopatric speciation.Also I said that obviously if they had descended from a commonancestor, they were part of the same species...
Am I on the right track? Any suggestions? Thank you.

Explanation / Answer

It is my understanding that they are not a common species. To be a common species, they must produce offspring which can themselves reproduce. An example is the liger (lion and tiger). Lions and tigers are different species, but are closely related much like in this example, so their offspring exist but are sterile. Also, you could touch on the separation of postzygotic and prezygotic isolation (postzygotic means that offspring would be sterile, prezygotic is that they avoid attempts at reproduction entirely). Also, you need to mention genetic drift occuring in isolated populations if you have not already as this is certainly an important factor

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