Biologists at The University of Texas (UT) in Austin documented an unusual bird that appears to be the offspring of a green jay and a blue jay. This may represent one of the first known cases of a hybrid animal arising in the wild because of recent shifts in climate.

Although these two parent species are separated by about 7 million years of evolution, their habitats did not overlap until few decades ago. “We think it’s the first observed vertebrate that’s hybridised as a result of two species both expanding their ranges due, at least in part, to climate change,” said Brian Stokes, a UT graduate student and first author of the study.