Crossbreeding

1. Crossbreeding Have you ever wondered what would happen if you crossed a with a ?

2. How About? Have you ever wished you had more hands to do your homework, chores, and play video games with?

3. Oddly enough . . . Scientists have thought of things like that. Well, maybe not exactly a horsefly or a boyctupus, but how about a liger? Hobbs, the liger, is a cross (a hybrid) between a male lion and a female tiger.

4. Patrick, the Tigon The artificially bred tigon is a cross between a male tiger and a female lion.

5. A Horse of a Different Color. A zorse is a cross between a male zebra and a female horse.

6. Another Horse of a Different Color Probably the most popular hybrid is the mule, the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. In fact, for many years, the term “mule” was applied to the offspring of any two creatures of a different species. Today, we call them hybrids.

7. Ever wonder where a Seedless Orange comes from? Because of the different number of chromosomes the different species have, many times the offspring is born sterile, or cannot reproduce. That is why seedless oranges, watermelons, and tangelos have no seeds. To grow a new tangelo plant, you must cross-pollinate another tangerine and pomelo plant.

8. In fact . . . Tangelos first originated because scientists were trying to find a way to produce a bigger tangerine, with more fruit in it. The result was a larger tangerine, but it did not contain more fruit. It is, however, very juicy which is another benefit to consumers.

9. Beefalo So crossbreeding can be used to emphasize certain traits like in the tangelo or in the American Beefalo. Beefalo are a cross between a domestic cow and a buffalo and they are bred just for their beef.

10. Dzo A Dzo is a male hybrid of a yak and a domesticated cow. They are larger and stronger than cattle, and are bred for agricultural work in Nepal.

11. Dog Crossbreeds With dogs, crossbreeding is very common, and because they are basically the same species, the mutt or mongrel offspring are not usually sterile. Think of some crossbreeds you are familiar with. A Pekeapoo is a cross between a Pekingese and a Poodle

12. Can You Guess What Makes a Labradoodle? Labrador Retriever and a Poodle

13. Cockapoo Cocker Spaniel and Poodle

14. Schnoodle Schnauzer and Poodle

15. Crossbreeding So crossbreeding can be done to create a better, heartier breed, to emphasize certain traits, to keep a species from becoming extinct, or just because. Whatever the reason, crossbreeding keeps life interesting.