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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Scientists have discovered that rock-wallabies living in north east Queensland are sharing genetic material despite belonging to six different species [phys.org].

These results suggest that the evolution of these iconic Australian marsupials is far more complex than the long-held theory of how species originate.

"Understanding these evolutionary processes is pretty fundamental in biology because it helps us define what a species is and understand how different species form," said lead researcher Dr Sally Potter from The Australian National University (ANU).

It was previously thought that mating between different rock-wallaby species could not result in fertile offspring. This is because of the differences in the way their genetic material is packaged into chromosomes.

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