= Hybrid zone
A <hybrid zone> is a region where genetically differentiated populations meet and produce offspring through interbreeding. Its spatial pattern reflects <gene flow>, dispersal and possible differences in <biological fitness>. A narrow transition can persist despite interbreeding; observing <hybrids> does not by itself show that the parental populations will merge completely.
In a Scottish contact zone between red <deer> and introduced sika <deer>, <microsatellite> <genetic markers> and the <mitochondrial genome> revealed <introgression> within populations that still formed two distinguishable genetic groups. Rare interbreeding can therefore leave a broader inherited signal than inspection of external appearance suggests.<Introgression through rare hybridization: A genetic study of a hybrid zone between red and sika deer (genus Cervus) in Argyll, Scotland by Simon J. Goodman and others>[Genetics 152, pp. 355–371; microsatellite and mitochondrial evidence of introgression]{ref} Comparing multiple <genetic markers> helps distinguish contemporary interbreeding from ancestry accumulated across generations.
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