Hybrid Animals

17/9/2010

Read this article about evolutionary advantages and disadvantages of hybridization of animals. From the article, what are some the possibly, although unlikely, advantages of wild animals hybridizing? What are the more likely disadvantages that arise from hydridization?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/science/14creatures.html?src=me&ref=science

Can you find any examplesof hybrids that are not mentioned in the article? Share them in your post!

45 Comments

Beccy

17/9/2010 06:07:36 am

Man I'd love to see one of those animals! I think these animals will have varied advantages and disadvantages. They will be different from all the others of their species and will have different abilities. some things that their species will be able to do they won't be able to do and they can do stuff that the others can't. These animals will get more attention from humans and will be captured and most likely not stay in the wild. They will be tamed and studied by the scientists, making their life most likely harder and I garantee they won't like it. but that's human nature if scientists find something weird and abnormal they *will* take it and look into it and see what has caused this and if it's animal keep it in captivity. So these animals won't have the ability to live in the wild like the others but o well!

william

17/9/2010 06:32:17 am

william think

17/9/2010 06:35:18 am

i think with double the DNA it can survive longer and be better adapted o their enviroment and i agree beccy they will be tamed because this only really happens in zoos

Robert Poole

17/9/2010 12:07:33 pm

These creatures are so cool, but i personally think that its just not natural to start messing with DNA and stuff like that. animals have evolved to fit their enviroment and if you change them in such a second, that might not be efficient to the animal.i do understand that scientist know what their doing, but something could go wrong. and why are they doing this? it did not say in the article.

robert

17/9/2010 12:09:03 pm

i like the zebra horse :)

Niamh Johnstone

17/9/2010 07:01:30 pm

I think that the advantages of animal hybridsation is that you could have a whole new species and they probably wouldn't die out straight away because they have gained traits from their parents that are masters of survival. The only downfall is that the parents might resent it because the hybrid is not a straight species. Plus the Liger is sooo cute!

P.S. Hi everybody, it's Niamh and I am in my new house in Scotland now! Mr. Erdosy said I could stay in touch with the science classes via this website!

Sam A

17/9/2010 10:57:41 pm

I don`t get how all of the other animals have a cross of their parents name but the mule it`s a cross between a donkey and a horse?I think that it wasn`t an accident when the killer whale and dolphin had a baby i think that they were experimenting to se if anything happened! I don`t see how a polar bear from one side of the world mated with a grizzly bear from the other side unless they were in a zoo and the polar bear either mated with the grizzly in the zoo or the polar bear escaped from a zoo and the did it in the wild. the odds of a polar surviving in the wild is like 1 to 1 billion!

Sam A

17/9/2010 11:00:00 pm

I agree with Robert they should go and start messing with animals DNA, if they do it to animals i don`t see why they shouldn`t do it human and animal.

Meg

18/9/2010 11:29:38 pm

I reckon hybrids are a good thing but only when they inherit good traits.

I tried finding some on google but it's hard to tell if they are real or not!

I saw a bear/donkey, a lizard/ something that makes me think of a lionfish and a few more. I think the most realistic is the bear/donkey so therefore it might be real but I couldn't find any info to back anything up!

I agree with Sam A and Niamh too (Hi !!!!!)

LeE-LOu

19/9/2010 04:53:40 am

WOw.I think hybrid animals are pretty cool and like beccy said people/she would want to see them, however if scientists find a way to create them themselves they may get too cried away. I agree It is not natural to have two types of animal mixed or it would have happened years ago. If we go over the top in creating them they could make our Eco-systems suffer because they are probably triple the times stronger then other animals around them. I think its cruel of people to even consider creating something that could destroy other species.

-hey niamh

Beccy

19/9/2010 05:47:11 am

ya it ain't right to go messin with stuff that teqnichally doesn't belong to u like DNA

Meg

19/9/2010 09:39:21 am

I think having hybrids are a wicked idea but I agree with Leelou that they shouldnt go over the top because 1. its cruel and 2 it will ruin the way nature works

Mr. Erdosy

19/9/2010 11:45:23 am

Sam A: In southern Alaska, the ranges of Polar Bears and Kodiak Bears (a bigger version of the grizzly) do overlap. In this area, Polars and Kodiacs do meet and, very rarely, mate.

Mr. Erdosy

19/9/2010 11:35:25 pm

You can certainly find many fake hybrid animals online. In order for a hybrid to be produced, both parents must be extremely closely related. By related, we mean that they share a very recent common ancestor.

The common ancestor of horses and donkeys lived relatively recently, so they can reproduce together. The common ancestor of lions and tigers lived recently, as well, so they can also produce hybrid animals.

The common ancestor between sharks (fish) and dolphins (mammals) lived hundreds of millions of years ago. They are too divereged from the original ancestor to reproduce, even though they have evolved similar body structures and shapes to deal with living in the ocean.

The common ancestor of chimpanzees and palm trees lived hundreds of millions of years ago, they are now too diverged from the original ancestor to reproduce, obviously. Nevertheless, they share a common ancestor from which both chimps and palm trees have evolved.

simon

20/9/2010 05:00:20 am

the double dna is cool but its weird how it happens. i agree to its not natrual because scientist can make to many and that could be madness

samuel

20/9/2010 07:56:44 am

Some biologists estimate that as many as 10 percent of animal species and up to 25 percent of plant species.

samuel

20/9/2010 07:57:20 am

i agree with my self

Krystin

20/9/2010 10:04:02 am

I dont think that it is unatural for two different species to reproduce. I think it actually creates new and interesting species. I think that hybrids are interesting because they are two species combined to make a whole new one. For example the Wolphin (Whale-Dolphin)- Since there were two different species sharing the same water tank, wouldn't it be likely that they may consider each other as the same specie and reproduce? Well it had already happened so i'm guessing it is likely. People may be against hybrids because it is populating the earth with new species that will continue to reproduce. But I believe that hybrids are like any other specie and should be treated the same way.

(P.S- Hey Niamh, I miss you. Hope everythings going well in Scottland. Bye)

Krystin

20/9/2010 10:05:24 am

Theres nothing wrong with what everyone else said...I just sort of disagree.

Mimi Walton

21/9/2010 03:43:26 am

I agree with Niamph. I understand what she is trying to say and she has a great idea.

PS. Nice to hear from you Niamph glad you will be able to participate in the class discussion and the bird project.

sean

21/9/2010 06:28:16 am

I think that hybrid animals are the extension of evolution. And that it speeds up evolution.

devia

21/9/2010 09:28:33 am

it is most likely that all those animals were put together in zoos and things because most of those animals dont cross in their normal habitats in the wild and that is why it is rare to see hybrid animals in the wild most of them are experiments.

...JaMeS...

22/9/2010 01:32:30 am

Hybrid animals are proof that there is nothing in nature so awful that you can't make them worse by mixing their features. Yet I think they look pretty cool. I dont think that it is right to be ruining the animals life to make a baby that looks "Cool", It is wrong to use animals so you can take a picture and get some cash.

...think about it...

Kian

23/9/2010 02:19:41 am

I think there are advantages to hybrid animals because they could inherit good traits from each of the animals. They could pick up more power or survival tactics from their mum/dad and also they could have a longer life span from either one of the parents if one had a significantly longer life span than the other. Although I don't think scientist she be forcing this to happen. If it happen naturally then it happens. I think the disadvantages are that the mother might neglect the child when it born because it's not 100% her species, so it might die soon after birth.

Kian

23/9/2010 06:08:13 am

I found another hybrid animal - A Jaglion, which is a cross between a Jaguar and a Lion.

laura

19/6/2015 09:41:40 pm

i think jagilion is better name

jason

23/9/2010 09:12:59 am

i found a dear/ donlky it looks so cool

laura

19/6/2015 09:39:35 pm

where idiot

__--Chelsi--__

23/9/2010 01:55:12 pm

In my opinion, the advantages of hybrid animals among us would be for scientists to understand slightly more how the DNA of the two animals would have made whatever they made.. I agree with Devia, Yes I also do think that all those hybrid animals were created mostly with scientists plus think about it, animals almost always stick to their own breed and do not go mixing so freely. DIsadvantages of mix breeding would be that the animal named liger doesn't know when to stop growing so it might get so heavy and big it might not be able to carry it's own weight. Due to genetically modifying the DNA in some way of the animal.

Joe

24/9/2010 12:06:52 am

I am fascinated by the fact that the hybrid is often capable of adapting to environments which the parents were not adapted to. In particular I love the idea at the end of the article that this hybridisation could also have occurred between humans,with Neanderthals mixing with Homo Sapiens. Because the parents came from different continents, and I guess were adapted to those places, the offspring (a mix of Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens) is capable of living in more than one continent. One result of this may be man's ability to travel and settle anywhere in the world and for cultures to mix and teach each other about their lifestyles and knowledge.

david Carter

24/9/2010 07:22:26 am

I think there are many advantages is doing this but there is also quite a few disadvantages, for example the size of a walphin

laura

19/6/2015 09:43:15 pm

hey david whales and dolphins have bred but they are not of that size u r thinking

david sorry

24/9/2010 07:24:17 am

may cause bone disease or bone problems because they can get so big, but it is also sort of good because they can mix abilities and make hunting easier for them.

kj.rhymer

24/9/2010 02:02:28 pm

i agree with all of u but i have a question whey do they do all of this in the begging i have and idea why but what is the real reason!!!!!

amanda

24/9/2010 02:17:40 pm

I think that hybrids have some good traits but of course they will have bat ones as well because they don’t cross paths in the wild so they have evolved to suit different habitats

Samora

25/9/2010 11:01:00 am

Sorry this is late...
I think that the disadvantage of animal hybridizations disadvantage is that some hybrids won't stop growing. An advantage of animal hybridizations is that they get to be unique, and also get traits from their parent who are not alike and could possibly live in the 2 places their parents would live in.

Nico Hibbard

25/9/2010 11:57:53 pm

I think hybrid animals have good traits, new traits, and bad traits. I agree on what amanda said

amber benett link

26/9/2010 02:44:47 am

i also agree with lee-lou and meg- this animals don't belong this way, so don't make them this way- it creates problems

kiefer

26/9/2010 09:34:54 am

kiefer

26/9/2010 09:39:59 am

it cool how the animals are so similar but never cross paths. the zores was really cool but if they were introduced to the wild they would probably be killed because the would stan out from there invierment.

Amanda Mcafee

30/9/2010 01:09:07 pm

i don't like the idea of hybrids because they were not meant to be created so they should not mate. i think that with people hybridizing animals it is like a crime against nature it should not happen that is why it does not exited in the wild. Some hybrids that are not in the article are:zebroid,cama,grolar pizzly,and a leopon. these are creatures that do not come naturally in the wild.

Taufiq pat

8/3/2014 07:50:32 pm

I like hybridization because the hybridization helps the animal to be powerful the two power are combin with each other and a new power is generated this power help to animal for producing milk, etc....so it is very helpful.

Cathy Farrell link

20/4/2015 07:34:34 am

As cool as people think this is and I am afraid to think that people think of this as cool, it is a disaster in the making. First scientists can create hybrids in the lab, but they can not predict their outcome or what it is means to society as a whole. They are playing god in the lab just because they can and get away with it. When you merge two species, what do you do to the mind of what you created? I saw a frog who was crying like a baby. Can that baby get milk with a frog face or eat like a human being? Mixing two species that are similar such as lion and tiger is one thing. Mixing two unrelated species is unnatural. That creature created will be doomed from the start only serving us in watching that animal suffer or used without any feeling towards that animal. It can be easily discarded as trash or used as parts or experimented on without knowing what that animal is suffering mentally or physically. Have we become so callous that man has absolutely no feelings when it comes to barbaric or tortuous experiments done on animals. Maybe if you saw these experiments from beginning to end, would you see how horrible these experiments can really be to the animals they are creating. Have we have the right to put human genes into a animal body? What is going through that hybrid's mind? Even when you mix similar species, you are messing with nature. A lion-tiger does not know whether to act like a lion or tiger. They have created a weaker species. The public today laughs at people, pets, and children getting hurt. So laugh today and think this is great. When they distort your offspring, create monsters in labs, think of you as expendible, use you as experiments with or without your knowledge, kill you off because you are not profitable to them, you might re-consider what entertains you. But then it will be too late. If you think this is all fiction. Think again - genetic engineering is here to stay. It is will be downfall of humanity as we know it. As godlike as they think they are, they will go down with the rest of us. There will always be someone who wants total control and that means those underneath that someone is doomed once their usefulness is done. When Hitler's scientists created what it wanted and he found they couldn't do anymore for them, he killed them. After all isn't that what ultimate power is. After all do you want a more intelligent being around you if you use them for your glory and power and money? Some scientists actually think they are improving society and some want glory, power, and money for themselves. Usually military people are into warfare and use others for that kind of thing. So scientists you are expendible, too. Think about that with your mad experiments. After all if you create the ultimate machine who can think without human interference, what do they need you for.

laura

19/6/2015 09:36:33 pm

stupid page

po link

29/6/2015 02:30:43 am

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Hybrid Animals

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