Hybrid Origin
The pitchers of N. murudensis are roughly intermediate in appearance between those of N. reinwardtiana and N. tentaculata, although significantly larger than either. This has led to speculation regarding the lineage of this species, with a number of authors suggesting a possible hybridogenic origin.
Botanist Clive A. Stace writes that one may speak of "stabilised hybrids when they have developed a distributional, morphological or genetic set of characters which is no longer strictly related to that of its parents, if the hybrid has become an independent, recognisable, self-producing unit, it is de facto a separate species". This would tend to support the status of N. murudensis as a species, since populations of this taxon appear to be stabilised as well as highly homogeneous, and it is one of the most abundant Nepenthes on the summit ridge of Mount Murud. Examples of other Nepenthes species with a putative hybrid origin include N. hamiguitanensis, N. hurrelliana, and N. petiolata.
Alternatively, N. murudensis may have evolved from populations of N. tentaculata that underwent speciation, possibly in isolation.
Read more about this topic: Nepenthes Murudensis
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