species is the term for a group of individuals that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
what is the term for a group of individuals that can breed and produce fertile offspring?
species
some hybrid zones can be seen as presenting a paradox for the biological definition of a species, usually given as "a population of actually or potentially interbreeding individuals that produce fertile offspring" under what has become known as the biological species concept. under this definition, both parental forms could be argued to be the same species if they produce fertile offspring at least some of the time. however, the two parental populations or species often remain identifiably distinct, conforming to an alternative, and presently preferred concept of species as "taxa that retain their identity despite gene flow".
hybrid zone
when the differences in number and arrangement of chromosomes is too great, hybridization becomes less and less likely. the wolf, dingo, dog, coyote, and golden jackal all have 78 chromosomes arranged in 39 pairs. this allows them to hybridize freely (barring size or behavioral constraints) and produce fertile offspring. there are two exceptions: the side-striped jackal and black-backed jackal. although these two theoretically could interbreed with each other to produce fertile offspring, it appears they cannot hybridize successfully with the rest of the genus "canis". a study of the maternal mitochondrial dna of the black-backed jackal could find no evidence of genotypes from the most likely mates - the side-striped jackal nor the golden jackal - indicating that male black-backed jackals had not bred with these. there is no evidence that the african wild dog hybridizes with any of them.
canid hybrid