Ever See a Liger?

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Ever See A Liger?

An episode of the edgy, humorous, and often line-crossing show South Park had the four young main animated characters singing the song "Pig and elephant DNA just won't splice" after a visit to the South Park Genetic Engineering Ranch. Unfortunately, this is how much of the country thinks about hybrid animals.

When most people hear the term "hybrid animal," they often think of odd, mutant creatures - hippopotamuses mixed with lions, dogs mixed with cats, or squirrels mixed with porcupines. Indeed, the word hybrid invokes the imagination and encourages one to entertain these improbable combinations as miracles of science.

However, the phrase "hybrid animal" merely means a crossbreeding of two animals - a process which has occurred for centuries, both artificially and naturally.

The idea of hybrids dates back to the mythology of ancient times. Folk tales were full of animal-human hybrid stories like mermaids and minotaurs. The word hybrid comes from the Ancient Greek, meaning "son of outrageous conduct." But understanding hybrid animals lies both in nature and science.

Hybridization has been occurring in nature for thousands of years. Diaries of early hunters in the northwestern territories tell of shooting bears that were large and off-white with hairy paws, suggesting hybrids of kodiak and polar bears. Recent DNA studies confirmed this is possible.

The mixing of animals that are closely related happens naturally more than you might think. In fact, scientists have recently identified a number of hybrid zones, or places where animal hybridization is most likely to occur based on a number of different factors. These hybrid animals are far more important to nature than you might think. Evolutionary biology studies show that the fittest animals survive, no matter whether they are hybrids or not, and while some are simply not genetically compatible in terms of survival, many others are.

A few examples of naturally occurring hybrid animals include the white tail/mule deer, some Galapagos Finches, and the European Red Deer and Chinese Sika Deer. Noted evolutionary expert Charles Darwin even commented on animal hybridization. "Many species have bred in various menageries . . . Strange as the fact may appear, many animals . . . unite with distinct species and produce hybrids quite as freely as, or even more freely than, with their own species."

Science, as well as nature though, has created some of its own hybrids for various purposes. Take, for instance,