Researchers from University of Queensland have discovered widespread hybridisation in the wild between two shark species commonly caught in Australia's east coast shark fisheries - the Australian black-tip shark and the common black-tip

Initial studies suggested the hybrid species was relatively robust, with a number of generations discovered across 57 specimens.

The Australian black-tip is slightly smaller than its common cousin and can only live in tropical waters, but its hybrid offspring have been found 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) down the coast, in cooler seas.

Adaptation to warmer climate?
It means the Australian black-tip could be adapting to ensure its survival as sea temperatures change because of global warming.

"If it hybridizes with the common species it can effectively shift its range further south into cooler waters, so the effect of this hybridizing is a range expansion," said lead researcher Jess Morgan. "It's enabled a species restricted to the tropics to move into temperate waters."

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