Hybrids and Evolution

As a complete layman, I've always assumed hybrids are a result of two recently diverged lineages. If they're both still near the "fork in the river" so to speak, they have enough similarities to overcome the differences that are building up.As far as I know, most hybrids are pretty much forced, either in a lab by humans, or by extreme environmental factors, so that in the wild, in most cases, these animals are reproductively isolated from one another, and as such, we can only assume more changes will develop unless we artificially hold them in their current forms. If and when these changes overpower the similarities, hybridization will no longer be possible.But again, I'm so much a layperson on this that I'm downright recumbent.

I'm sure this phenomenon is caused purely by the interacting differences involved. Similar to how two closely related people can end up letting all sorts of genetic errors into their child because they don't have an infusion of new genes to compensate, having regulatory genes that are different can either increase production of an inhibitor or decrease it, both altering the size of certain features or even the whole shebang.There's also the possiblity of having two different proteins or hormones that might duplicate the effects of ones from the other parent, making either additive or counteracting effects.