Damselfly

reproductive organs
come in various sizes
and shapes depending
on their species. This is
considered prezygotic
because the gametes of
separate species will
never meet and hybrid
offspring will never be
created since they can
only physically mate
with their own species
 Bushbabies, also
known as galagos, are
found on the continent
of Africa. Some species
of bushbaby have an
overlapping habitat,
they cannot interbreed
with one another. This
is because the
structure of the
genitalia in bushbabies
varies from species to
species, so a male bushbaby of one species cannot successfully
copulate with a female bushbaby of a different species. The
two species of
bushbaby won’t
even be able to
produce sterile
offspring due to
mechanical
isolation.
Most species of
snails also express
mechanical
isolation. If a
female of one
species of snail
tries to mate with the male of another species, their
reproductive organs won’t match with one another and the
two species won’t be able to mate. The sexual organs of a snail
are within the shell of the snail and if one species has a short,
 disc-like shell it won’t be able to mate with a snail that has a
tall, cone-shaped shell.

Mechanical isolation is not just restricted to animals, but is

also seen in plants. In fact, a textbook example of mechanical
isolation in plants will be that of the two sage species, the black sage
and white sage. Even though they grow in the same area, the
chances of interbreeding between these two species are as good as
none, as they are pollinated by different insects.
While the black sage is pollinated by honeybees, the white sage
is pollinated by relatively larger carpenter bees. Carpenter bees are
considerably large, so the moment they perch on black sage
flowers, their petals close, and thus, these bees don’t come in
contact with the reproductive part of these flowers. On the other
hand, honeybees are too small to reach the reproductive parts of
the white sage.

Mechanical isolation is a type of prezygotic barrier, where no

fertilization occurs and thus reproduction does not occur.
Mechanical isolation includes any physical barrier that prevents
mating. However, organisms may attempt to mate, but due to
physical differences in the genitalia, mating does not occur.