Emilio,
 
I am not familiar with "ring species."  Sounds interesting.  But to throw more
confusion into this mess, we have in New Mexico six (or eight, I can't remember)
species of racerunner lizards.  The neat thing about them is they are ALL FEMALE.  No
hybrids here!!  They reproduce through parthenogenisis and each female passes on all of
her genes to her daughter, no males necessary, thanks.  They have cut their evolution
chances way down but as long as they fit the habitat they are allright.  Also no chance
for inter-species or x-species mating - or for that matter, no chance for intra-species
mating.  This stuff gets wilder and wilder.  Maybe I need to go back to school (as
Sarah suggested a while back).
 
See ya,
 
Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA
 
Emilio Jose Power wrote:
 
> Tom and other Conch-L,
>
>         I love your example of a supposed population of cichlids. That is a perfect
> example of what people refer to as a ring species. The classic example of a
> ring species is a lizard (or skink, i dont remember) and have the exact
> characteristics you speak about. The species is found in the rocky mtns.  :-)
>
> Emilio