41 | 100 Animal hybrids - a game with nature
Ligerfrom the series 100 Photos - 100 Stories
Liger - Tigon - Jaglion. Never heard of them? No wonder! These crossbreeds do not occur in the animal world. The story behind the mysterious animal crossings you'll learn about in this article.
Jaglion - ImgurJaglion - Liger - Tigon. Curious hybrids
Hybrids are biologically considered crossbreeds, which have come from a sexual reproduction between two different species. You have to keep in mind that normally, individuals of two species cannot reproduce because of certain barriers. This is intended by nature, because the hybrids usually have a worse chance of survival (Darwin: struggle for life; the one who is best adapted to the environment survives). Since hybrids are "made artificially", they often have a lower vhance of survival and have impairments. Liger - Tigon and Co. are therefore often bred in captivity. Ligers, for example, grow very quickly and become the largest cats in the world. Hercules, the liger in the picture, weighs a whopping 410 kilograms. However, there are also numerous natural hybrids: for example, in the plant world, which contributes to the establishment of genetic diversity.
However, hybrids also exist in the everyday pet world: for example, in dogs. Here the goal is to inherit the positive characteristics of both breeds. However, since there are many different crossbreeding possibilities and there are genes that are dominant or recessive, the probability to really inherit these positive genes of both parents is often low. So dogs often have problems (For example when running, breathing, etc.). Every good side also has a bad side. All in all, it can be said that it is never a good idea to interfere with biological processes.
