FA S C IN ATIN G A N IM A L

H Y B R ID S

Individuals from different but closely

related species do occasionally,
though rarely mate, and the result is
a biological hybrid an off spring
that shares traits from both parent
species.
The naming of hybrid animals
depends on the sex and species of
the parents. The father giving the
first half of his species' name and the
mother the second half of hers.

LIG ER S

 Ligers are the cross between a male lion and a

female tiger, and they are the largest of all

living cats and felines. Their massive size may
be a result of imprinted genes which are not
fully expressed in their parents, but are left
unchecked when the two different species mate
.Ligers are the worlds biggest cats, larger than
their parents, with the strength of a lion and
speed of a tiger combined.
An average male liger stands almost 12ft tall on
its hind legs and weighs up to half a ton, twice
the weight of a wild lion or tiger.
. Some female ligers can grow to 10 feet in
length and weigh more than 700 pounds.

 Ligers are extremely rare in the wild, as

the behavior and habitats of lions and

tigers make interbreeding unlikely.
Ligers are generally born in captivity
They may resemble either parent, and
range from white to golden brown, with
or without spots and stripes. A male liger
may have a mane, but it is usually much
smaller than his fathers.
As hybrids, ligers have low fertility rates,
but some females have produced an
offspring by mating with full lions or
tigers. Liger males are totally unfertile

Jaglion

LIONESS

JAGUAR

JAGLION

 Jaglion also known as a jaguon is the

hybrid result of mating a male jaguar

with a lioness.
Complications come with cross
breeding the different species. In most
cases all male and almost 90% of the
females are sterile and cannot
continue the reproduction process.
Jaglion species is extremely limited
due to the fact that there are less
than a half a dozen of this beautiful
wild cat in existence.

Tigon

 Tigons are produced when a male tiger breeds

with a female lion.

Tigons are a much more rare hybrid animal
than ligers. Tigons more closely resemble their
tiger fathers than ligers do their tiger mothers.
Tigons have spots and stripes and are usually
deep orange in color with white bellies. They can
produce lion roars and tiger growls.
Lions and tigers are able to breed because
they're genetically similar enough that their
chromosomes can pair and produce offspring.
Both lions and tigers have 38 chromosome.
Most tigon offspring don't reach full term or are
stillborn because the mother tiger's womb isn't
big enough to hold the big tigon cubs

Zebroids

 Zebroidis the offspring of a cross

between a zebra and any other equine,

usually a horse or a donkey. There are
zorses, zonkeys, zonies and a host of
other combinations. Zebroids are an
interesting example of hybrids bred from
species that have a radically different
number of chromosomes. For instance,
horses have 64 chromosomes and zebra
have between 32 and 44 (depending on
species)

G rolar bear
Polar bear

Grizzly bear

Grolar bear

 Grolar bear is the offspring of a

grizzly bear and a polar bear . Unlike

many hybrid animals on this list,
grolar bears are known to occur
naturally in the wild. Some experts
predict that polar bears may be
driven to breed with grizzly bears at
an increased frequency due to global
warming, and the fact that polar
bears are being forced from their
natural habitats on the polar ice.

C am as

 Cama is a hybrid of two animals from

different worlds camels from Asia,

and llamas from South America. The two
species exhibit many differences, but
camels and llamas are both camelids
descended from a common ancestor
Camas were produced via artificial
insemination to create an animal with
the size and strength of the camel, but
the more cooperative temperament of
the llama

B eefalo

 Beefalo are the fertile offspring of domestic

cattle and American bison. Crosses also

exist between domestic cattle and
European bison (zubrons), and yaks
(yakows).
Although buffalo and cattle belong to both
a separate genus and a separate species,
they still have enough compatible genes to
be able to produce viable offspring. The red
meat from one of these hybrids is noted for
its lower amounts of fat andcholesterol , it
also contains fewer calories

Sheep-goats

 Goats and sheep share many characteristics,

but successful breeding between them is rare.

Pregnancy is more likely to result from pairings
between male sheep and female goats than
male goats and female sheep. Most
pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion. Even
so, live births have occurred, the most famous
of which happened in Botswana in 2000.
Goats and sheep differ genetically: Sheep have
54 chromosomes, and goats have 60
chromosomes. Embryos created from goatsheep pairings fail to develop due to these
chromosomal differences.

M ules and H innies

MUL
E
HINNY

 A mule is the result of the mating of a

maledonkey(jack) and a
femalehorse(mare) to produce a hybrid.
The much rarer hinny is the result of mating
a femaledonkey(jennet) with a
malehorse(stallion) although the hinny is
much harder to produce than the mule
The mule has the patience, endurance, sure
footedness, sense, and drought tolerance of
thedonkey, combined with the size, speed,
strength and courage of thehorse.
All male mules and most female mules are
infertile, so their continued existence
depends entirely on human intervention.

W holphins

D O LPH IN

K ILLER W H A LE

WOLPHIN

Wholphin is an extremely rarehybridborn

from a mating of a femalecommon
bottlenose dolphinwith a malefalse killer
whale(scientifically belongs to the dolphin
family)
Wholphin appears to be a very rare species
and only a handful of wholphins are known to
have been born in captivity, thus information
regarding this species remains rare.
The first recorded wholphin was born in a
Tokyo SeaWorld, but he died after 200
days.The first wholphin in the United States
and the first to survive was Kekaimalu, born
atSea Life Park ,Hawaii.

Credits :
Wikipedia
Google .com
www.rantpets.com