Crossword Genius

Freaks of nature: mongrels ain't regularly included (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mutants

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'freaks of nature' is the definition.
'mutants' can be an answer for 'freaks' (I've seen this before). I am not sure about the 'of nature' bit.

'mongrels ain't regularly included' is the wordplay.
'mongrels' becomes 'mutts' ('mutt' can be a synonym of 'mongrel').
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'included' is an insertion indicator.
The alternating letters of 'aint' are 'an'.
'mutts' placed around 'an' is 'MUTANTS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mutants that I've seen before include "freaks" , "Organisms with gene alterations" , "organism's genetic variations" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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