Hybrid Animals

[Alan McDougall]

Greering I am new, Engineer,

 

Hybrid animals,

 

I have a few questions relating to hybrid animals.

 

The great cat family seems to interbreed and result in hybrids. Why is this?

 

The horse family Donkey, hourse, etc, also do so, can they breed with a zebra or is to too remote genetically. Two questions?

 

The dog family produces hybrids easily. Why is this?

 

The ape and monkey family do not produce hybrids. Why is this?

 

Forgive my ignorance on genetics as I am an Engineer not a geneticist.

 

Anything that you can add about hybrid animals will be most appreciated.

 

Human Ape hybrid for example!

 

Regards

 

Alan

[TransomicAves]

Hi Alan,

 

Interesting issue you raised re. Cats interbreeding, but Apes/monkeys not...

Regarding Cats:

Yes, Lions & Tigers can breed (both has 38 chromosomes), but this hybrid will usually be sterile. At meiosis, when sperm/egg cells are created, the chromosomes need to lign up to allow homologue pairing & cross-over to occur. If the chromosomes are not the same size, this can not occur, when the cell then does divide to form haploid cells (and it is likely not to), it don't end up with a copy of each chromosome it needs, and/or multiple copies of some, and none of others. either Over and above all these obstacles, issues like growth dysplasia also will come into play. Not sure if 2 Litigers ever had a successful mating,but even then you might still have the same issue around chromosomes lining up. My assumption would be that the cats are more closely related (i.e. evolutionary speaking) than apes & monkeys.

 

Alan,

You might find the following website pretty interesting !

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/06/19/top-10-hybrid-animals/

Edited June 29, 2008 by TransomicAves

[BURN]

I know for sure horses/ mules/ donkeys or any other animal of the Equid Family can breed with Zebras, it's an awkward little thing called a Zebroid. Apes an Mokeys are in different Orders, and most probalay, can't breed because of this.

[MedGen]

I know for sure horses/ mules/ donkeys or any other animal of the Equid Family can breed with Zebras, it's an awkward little thing called a Zebroid. Apes an Mokeys are in different Orders, and most probalay, can't breed because of this.

 

I'm not entirely sure that humanities taxonomic classifications are really the reasoning behind the ability of certain species to interbreed successfully.

 

I think chromosome number is only a short part of the answer. Cytogenetically speaking it probably more of an issue of the regions that pair up during metaiphase. Using the human chromosomal fusion in our prehistory, there occurred a fusion between what is now the chimpanzee autosomes 12 and 13 (I think it was those two) to generate our second chromosome. Obviously if this only occurred in a single individual then how does it spread? Because of the nature of the fusion, end to end at the telomeres, the requisite regions that align are not disrupted, so there is no barrier to breeding here.

 

Also there is the time since the two species MRCA, most likely with Lions and Tigers this was not so far back as to prevent the odd hybridisation, although has this occurred in the wild, or merely through human intervention?

 

Interestingly horses and donkey's diverged further back in evolutionary time than humans and chimpanzee's, makes you think?

[BURN]

n_n Merely a pondering. Thanks.