Question

Many closely related species of ducks have different courtship dances that are performed to solidify a pair-bond. If you were to cross individuals from each of these species what would you expect to see in the hybrid offspring if behaviors related to pair-bond formation were completely due to genetics?

Answer 1

I would expect to see a new phenotype in which the new duck hybrid species would express a new mixed courtship dance with the behaviors of both parentals.

Step-by-step explanation:

The cross between both parentals, each from different species, might produce a new phenotype that exhibits both parental dances. The new dance might be considered a hybrid of the parental dances.

Genetically speaking, we can think that there is a gene codifying for the courtship behavior in one species and another gene expressing a different courtship behavior in the other species. This cross´ product would be a hybrid species that exhibits a part of both parentals´ behaviors.