The fact of the intermingling, however, is a fatal blow to the theory of recognition marks, since it demonstrates that merely distinctive colouring is not a preventative of cross-breeding. To this matter we shall return later.
Fertile Hybrids among Amphibia
Our Crested Newt (Molge cristata) and the Continental Marbled Newt (M. marmorata) interbreed in France, in the wild state, and the resulting hybrid was at first described as a distinct species, under the name of Molge blasii. These two newts differ greatly in appearance. In the Marbled Newt the colouration is brilliant green and black above, and shows no orange below, thus differing much from that of the Crested Newt, which is black above and mottled with orange beneath, while the crest of the breeding-male of this species lacks the notches which are so conspicuous in that of the Crested Newt.
HARLEQUIN QUAIL
(Coturnix delegorguei)
RAIN QUAIL
(Coturnix coromandelica)
The markings on the throats of these quails are of the type usually put down as “recognition marks,” but as the Harlequin Quail is African and the Rain Quail Indian, the two species cannot possibly interbreed. The pattern, then, can have no “recognition” significance.
Insects
Among insects, M. de Quatrefages states that the hybrid progeny of the silk-moths Bombyx cynthia and B. arrindia are fertile for eight generations when bred inter se.