Data from: The rate of evolution of postmating-prezygotic reproductive isolation in Drosophila

Reproductive isolation (RI) is an intrinsic aspect of species, as
described in the Biological Species Concept. For that reason, the
identification of the precise traits and mechanisms of RI, and the rates
at which they evolve, is crucial to understanding how species originate
and persist. Nonetheless, precise measurements of the magnitude of
reproductive isolation are rare. Previous work has measured the rates of
evolution of prezygotic and postzygotic barriers to gene flow, yet no
systematic analysis has carried out the study of the rates of evolution of
postmating-prezygotic (PMPZ) barriers. We systematically measured the
magnitude of two barriers to gene flow that act after mating occurs but
before zygotic fertilization and also measured a premating (female mating
rate in nonchoice experiments) and two postzygotic barriers (hybrid
inviability and hybrid sterility) for all pairwise crosses of species
within the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup. Our results indicate that
PMPZ isolation evolves faster than hybrid inviability but slower than
premating isolation. We also describe seven new interspecific hybrids in
the group. Our findings open up a large repertoire of tools that will
enable researchers to manipulate hybrids and explore the genetic basis of
interspecific differentiation, reproductive isolation, and speciation.