Animalia Hybrids

Every time when it comes to free topic, I have no idea what to write. As for this time, let’s talk about animals as I love them very much. Literally.

Legend is full of strange, hybrid creatures, and Photoshoppers have dedicated countless hours to creating new ones. But this list contains no Photoshopped images: all of these animals are real! You’ve all heard of the liger, but what about the narluga? Or the leopon? This list of REAL hybrid animals will surprise and amaze you. What does the future hold, with advances in genetic engineering and cloning? Only time will tell! Keep reading to find out more about these strange creatures.

Below is collection of bizarre hybrid animals with interesting hybridized namesakes. The majority of these animals do not occur naturally in the wild and have been bred by humans which has stirred much controversy and criticism. For most of these animals, while successfully crossed, the offspring tend to be infertile, meaning their continuation as a hybrid is solely determined by human intervention.

Z E B R I O D

A zebroid (also zedonk, zebra mule, and zebrule) is the offspring of any cross between a zebra and any other equine: essentially, a zebra hybrid. In most cases, the sire is a zebra stallion. Zebroid is the generic name for all zebra hybrids. The different hybrids are generally named using the portmanteau convention of sire’s name + dam’s name. There is generally no distinction made as to which zebra species is used. Examples include: zorse, zebrule, zonkey, zebonkey, zony. 

L I G E R

The liger is a hybrid cross between a male lion (Panthera leo) and a tigress (Panthera tigris). Thus, it has parents with the same genus but of different species. It is distinct from the similar hybrid tiglon. It is the largest of all known extant felines. Ligers enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and are very sociable like lions. Ligers exist only in captivity because the habitats of the parental species do not overlap in the wild. Historically, when the Asiatic Lion was prolific, the territories of lions and tigers did overlap and there are legends of ligers existing in the wild. Notably, ligers typically grow larger than either parent species, unlike tiglons which tend to be about as large as a female tiger.

S A V A N N A H    C A T S

Savannah cat is the name given to the offspring of a domestic cat and a serval—a medium-sized, large-eared wild African cat. The unusual cross became popular among breeders at the end of the 20th century, and in 2001 the International Cat Association accepted it as a new registered breed. Savannahs are much more social than typical domestic cats, and they are often compared to dogs in their loyalty. They can be trained to walk on a leash and even taught to play fetch.

M U L E

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny (the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey). All male mules and most female mules are infertile. The size of a mule and work to which it is put depends largely on the breeding of the mule’s dam. Mules can be lightweight, medium weight, or even, when produced from draught horse mares, of moderately heavy weight. An aficionado of the mule claims that they are “more patient, sure-footed, hardy and long-lived than horses, and they are considered less obstinate, faster, and more intelligent than donkeys.”

W O L F D O G

A wolfdog (also called a wolf–dog hybrid or wolf hybrid) is a canid hybrid resulting from the mating of a wolf (various Canis lupus subspecies) and a dog (Canis lupus familiaris). The term “wolfdog” is preferred by most of the animals’ proponents and breeders because the domestic dog recently was taxonomically recategorized as a subspecies of wolf. The American Veterinary Medical Association and the United States Department of Agriculture refer to the animals as wolf–dog hybrids. Rescue organizations consider any dog with wolf heritage within the last five generations to be a wolfdog, including some established wolfdog breeds.

Others:

W H O L P H I N  (False Killer Whale + Dolphin)

D Z O  (Yak + Domestic Cattle)

G E E P  (Sheep + Goat)

G R O L A R - B E A R  (Grizzly Bear + Polar Bear)

L E O P O N  (Lion + Leopard)

J A G L I O N  (Lion + Jaguar)

AND MANY OTHER MORE!