Hybrids

This article is about a biological term. See hybrid (disambiguation) for other meanings.

In biology, hybrid has three meanings.

• The first meaning is either the offspring of two different species, or of two different genera.
  • Hybrids between different species within the same genus are sometimes known as interspecific hybrids or crosses.
  • Hybrids between different sub-species within a species are known as intra-specific hybrids.
  • Hybrids between different genera are sometimes known as intergeneric hybrids.
• The second meaning of "hybrid" is crosses between populations, breeds or cultivars ("cultivated varieties") of a single species. This second meaning is often used in plant breeding.

• The third meaning is in molecular biology, see Hybridization (molecular biology).

Ernst Mayr wrote of Gregor Mendel, "He was uncertain about the nature of the kinds of peas he crossed, and, like most plant breeders, he called heterozygotes "hybrids". When he tried to confirm the laws he had found by using "other hybrids" that were actually real species hybrids, he failed. The use of the same term "hybrid" for two entirely different biological phenomena thwarted his later efforts." (This is Biology, 1997, p58f).

Some dog hybrids (used in sense two, above), are becoming increasingly popular and are being bred selectively. In cats, the erroneous term feral-domestic hybrid is often used to mean a hybrid between the domestic cat and a wild cat species (a "feral" animal is a domestic animal that has reverted to the wild state).

An example of an intra-specific hybrid is a hybrid between a Bengal tiger and an Amur (Siberian) Tiger.

Plant hybrids, especially,are often stronger than either parent variety, a phenomenon which when present is known as hybrid vigour (heterosis). Plant breeders make use of a number of techniques to produce hybrids.

The lonicera fly is the first known animal species that was created by hybridization. Until then, this process was known among plants only.

Interspecific hybrids

Interspecific hybrids are bred by mating two species, normally from within the same genus. The offspring display traits characterisitc of both parents. The offspring of an interspecific cross may be sterile. Sterility is attributed to the different number of chromosomes the two species have, for example donkeys have 62 chromosomes, while horses have 64, mules have 63. Mules and other sterile interspecific hybrids cannot produce viable gametes because the extra chromosome cannot make a homologous pair at meiosis, meiosis is disrupted and viable sperm and eggs are not formed.

Hybrids are often named by the portmanteau method, combining the names of the two parent species. For example, a zeedonk is a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Since the traits of hybrid offspring often vary depending on which species was mother and which was father, it is traditional to use the father's species as the first half of the portmanteau. For example, a liger is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger, while a tigon is a cross between a male tiger and a female lion.

Some animal interspecies hybrids are:

• Mule, a cross of female horse and a male donkey.
• Hinny, a cross between a female donkey and a male horse.
  

  

  A "Zeedonk", a zebra/donkey hybrid
• Zeedonk/zonkey, a zebra/donkey cross.
• Zorse or zebroid, a zebra/horse cross
• Zony/zetland, a zebra/pony cross ("zony" is a generic term; "zetland" is specifically a hybrid of the Shetland pony breed with a zebra)
• Dzo or zo: a cross between a domestic cow/bull and a yak. See also Bovid hybrid.
• Beefalo/cattalo, a cross of an American Bison and a domestic cow. This is a fertile breed, although the two species are in different genera (Bison and Bos, respectively). See also Bovid hybrid.
• Zubron, a hybrid between Wisent (European Bison) and domestic cow.
• Hybrids between sheep and goat, such as the Toast of Batswana .
• Hybrids between black bears, brown bears, Kodiak and polar bears ursinae hybrids.
• Wolfdog, the cross between a domestic dog and a Wolf. Fertile Canid hybrids occur between coyotes, wolves, dingos, jackals and domestic dogs. Dogs and wolves may be considered the same species, making wolfdogs a non-hybrid.
• Hybrids between spotted owls and barred owls
• Liger (or Tigon, depending on the parents' genders), a cross between a Lion and a Tiger. Various other wild cat crosses are known involving the Lynx, Bobcat, Leopard, Serval, etc (Felid hybrids).
• Hybrids between the domestic cat and wild cat species. The domestic cat, African wild cat and European wildcat may be considered variant populations of the same species (F libyca), making such crosses non-hybrids.
• Congolese Spotted Lion
• Cama, a cross between a Camel and a Llama, also an intergeneric hybrid.
• Wolphin, a fertile but very rare cross between a False Killer Whale and a Bottlenose Dolphin.
• A fertile cross between an albino King Snake and an albino Corn Snake.
• At Chester Zoo in England, a cross between African elephant (male) and Indian elephant (female). The calf was named Motty. It died of gut infection after a few days.
• Cagebird breeders sometimes make hybrids between species of finch, such as goldfinch x canary.

Links to more hybrid animals, or more specific details:

• Amazing Animals
• Hybrid Mammals

Some plant hybrids include:

• Leyland Cypress, a hybrid between Monterey Cypress and Nootka Cypress.
• Loganberry, a hybrid between raspberry and blackberry.
• London Plane, a hybrid between Oriental Plane and American Plane (American Sycamore).
• Tangelo, a hybrid of a mandarin orange and a pomelo or a grapefruit which may have been developed in Asia about 3,500 years ago.
• Triticale, a wheat-rye hybrid.
• Wheat, Most modern and ancient wheat breeds are themselves hybrids.

Hybrids should not be confused with chimaeras such as the chimera between sheep and goat known as the geep.

Mythological and legendary hybrids

In ancient and modern local folktales, there exist hybrids resulting from the union between a human parent and an animal or a non-human sentient being. Some of these hybrids are crosses with humans and: brownies, nymphs, gods, Moo-Moo (Solomon Island Giant), chimpanzees (Humanzee), aliens, bats (Batboy), snakes/lizards (Naga, Syrictae), dropa, giants, cat people, mermaids, fairies, watchers, demons, dryads, spirits, incubus, succubus, pech, triton, larvae, martes, and others. One example is the Minotaur.