Structure and dynamics of a narrow hybrid zone between geocrinia mews and g. Victorian a (anura: Leptodactylidae) in south-eastern Australia

Abstract

A transect was established across the hybrid zone between Geocrinia laevis and G. victoriana near its southern (coastal) limit. Three diagnostic components of the phenotype, breeding-call structure and two muscle protein systems, were used to analyse the interaction between these parapatric, morphologically- similar species. The zone, based on breeding-call structure, is narrow (9-30 km), with most of the replacement occurring over 2 km. Contact samples consist of putative parental individuals and recombination products, so that this section of the zone may be described as an overlap with hybridisation. This contrasts with an earlier analysis of a transect near the northern (inland) limit of..