Howler monkey study examines mechanisms of new species formation

December 22, 2018, University of Michigan

A new University of Michigan study of interbreeding between two species of howler monkeys in Mexico is yielding insights into the forces that drive the evolution of new species.

How do new species emerge in nature? One common but overly simplified version of the story goes like this: A population of animals or plants becomes geographically isolated—by a river that changes course or a mountain range that rises up, for example—and the two separated groups accumulate genetic differences over time as they adapt to their environments in isolation.

Eventually, the DNA of the two groups is so different that the two populations are considered distinct species. Voilà, speciation has occurred.

In reality, the process is much more complex than that. While geographic isolation can start the speciation process, evolutionary biologists believe that other forces—including various forms of natural selection—can help to complete it.

The new U-M study provides rare empirical evidence that multiple forms of natural selection, including a contentious one called reinforcement, are helping to complete the speciation process in a natural howler monkey "hybrid zone," a place where the two species coexist and occasionally interbreed in a process called hybridization.

The study is scheduled for online publication Dec. 22 in the journal Molecular Ecology. In the paper, the researchers use the primate hybrid zone to identify parts of the genome that are likely to contain genes underlying speciation and to test for signals of the selection forces that shaped them.

"We observed patterns in the genetic data suggesting that hybridization is playing a direct role in completing the speciation process by enhancing genetic differences between species," said U-M doctoral candidate Marcella Baiz, the study's first author. The other authors are Liliana Cortés-Ortiz and Priscilla Tucker of the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

"We found a signal for multiple forms of natural selection driving species differences, including reinforcement, a process that has been highly debated," Baiz said. "This result is particularly notable because empirical evidence for reinforcement is extremely rare, especially genetic evidence."

Read more at: 

Frogs reveal mechanism that determines viability of hybrids

Date:  January 10, 2018

Source:  Radboud University Nijmegen

Summary:

Why are some hybrids viable and others not? It is known that this depends on the father species and the mother species. New research in two related frog species shows the influence of mother and father species: one hybrid is viable, the other hybrid dies in early stages of development.

Continued  

Predators preserve existing animal species

Date: August 16, 2017

Source: Lund University

Summary:

A new study increases knowledge of how boundaries and barriers are maintained between different species in the animal world. According to theory, crosses between two species, known as hybrids, may not survive encounters with natural predators to the same degree as their parents. Now, researchers show that reality confirms this theory.

Continued

Fish integration: Nature adores a hybrid

Date:

November 4, 2014

Source:

Concordia University

Summary:

After a few generations of breeding and natural selection, hybrid fish are genetically as robust as their purely wild forefathers, new research shows. The team transplanted combinations of wild, domesticated and hybridized populations of Algonquin Park vbrook trout to new environments. The researchers then compared survival rates and physical characteristics to determine whether hybridization affects a fish's potential to adapt after multiple generations of natural selection in the wild.

Continued ...

Galapagos Tortoise 'Lonesome George' May Have Company

The death of Galápagos tortoise Lonesome George this summer was thought to mark the extinction of a subspecies, but a new study hints that the reptile may not have been the last of his kind after all.

Researchers from Yale University recently trekked to the northern tip of Isabella Island, the largest of the Galápagos, and collected DNA from more than 1,600 giant tortoises. The genetic samples showed that 17 of these tortoises were hybrids that had a parent like Lonesome George from the subspecies Chelonoidis abingdoni.

What's more, five of those hybrids were juveniles, suggesting purebred C. abingdoni tortoises may still be roaming a remote part of the island.
Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/24806-galapagos-tortoise-lonesome-george.html

When is a wildcat really a wildcat?

With claims big cats are stalking the countryside, researchers are developing a DNA test to identify Scotland's pure-bred wildcats.

There have been questions whether sightings of "big cats" might be wildcats or feral domestic cats.

But researchers at the University of Chester want to find a gene test to distinguish wildcats from hybrids cross-bred with domestic cats.

The study wants to protect the pure-bred wildcats from extinction.

Geneticists at the university want to find a DNA test to define whether a cat is a pure-bred wildcat, which can be up to 4ft (1.22m) long.

'The last stand'

Senior lecturer in biology, Paul O'Donoghue, believes there might be fewer than 100 Scottish wildcats surviving in the wild - with their future threatened by inter-breeding with runaway domestic cats.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19411647

Hybrid bear sightings getting more common in Arctic - via Chad Arment

EDMONTON - When biologists Jodie Pongracz and Evan Richardson flew up to Viscount Melville Sound this spring to capture polar bears, they had expected it to be an adventure.

The bears they were looking for live in an Arctic region so remote and so far north that Inuit hunters only began harvesting them in the 1970s. The number of animals living there is also small compared to what is found in most other polar bear regions of the Arctic.

That’s why they, and Ross Klengenberg, their Inuit field assistant, did a double-take when they saw a grizzly bear in the company of what they thought was a polar bear on the sea ice, hundreds of kilometres north of where grizzlies are normally found on the mainland.

What surprised them even more is that the bear turned out to be a hybrid, a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly.

Although a handful of hybrids and grizzlies have been seen in this part of the world in recent years, Pongracz is still having a tough time fully understanding the significance of what she saw that day. So is scientist Andrew Derocher, her academic supervisor at the University of Alberta.

“We know that grizzlies are in the area, and that local Inuit had seen hybrids, and recently shot two,” says Derocher. “So perhaps it isn’t that surprising. Nonetheless, given the size of the area involved, and the small number of hybrids that exist, I’d say they were extremely fortunate to make such sightings. I’d do back-flips, assuming I could, to see what they saw.”

Until about 20 years ago, sightings of grizzlies in the High Arctic were relatively rare; a quirk of nature, many biologists thought, that may have simply occurred because the bear had strayed too far following mainland caribou that sometimes cross the sea ice to the Arctic islands.

Continued:http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Hybrid+bear+sightings+getting+more+common+Arctic/6996505/story.html

Video: Twowits twowoos of rare baby owls

A pair of new baby owls arrivals at Exotic Pets Refuge near Peterborough could be the rarest types of owl in the country.

Staff at the wildlife sanctuary in Deeping St James were shocked when eggs laid by Spot, a spotted African Owl, hatched into two baby birds.

Spot had mated with Raj, an Indian Eagle Owl - and staff at the centre say it is highly unlikely that the two breeds would ever meet in the wild, let alone mate.

Pam Mansfield, owner and founder of the centre, said: “The whole thing happened by accident.

“Spot and Raj may have mated before in our aviary because Spot has produced a number of eggs over the last few years but none have ever hatched.

"So we assumed it would be safe to keep them in the aviary together but about six weeks ago two of Spot’s eggs hatched.

“It would be very unusual for an African and an Indian owl to meet in the wild so the two babies must be very rare, I’ve certainly never heard of anyone else breeding their type.

“They don’t have names yet as you don’t know the sex of an owl for several weeks and we have no idea what to call their breed.

“One is very tame and comes into the house with me and watches TV while the other is very timid and won’t leave its mum.

“They both look like giant balls of dust but they’re very cute. We’ll be looking to keep them here.”

It is not the first time that the baby owl’s father Raj has been in the headlines.

In October last year Raj escaped during a display at Peterborough City Market and was on the loose for over a week until being spotted and recaptured in Newborough.

Owl expert Campbell Murn from the Hawk Conservancy Trust said that the baby owls were certainly rare - but warned that producing hybrid species was not a good idea.

Mr Murn said: “You don’t need to be an expert to realise that an owl from Africa and an owl from India would seldom meet in the wild.

“However, it’s not uncommon for the two species to be kept together in captivity as they are both from the same genus and in biological terms it’s not implausible for them to produce offspring.

“Breeding hybrid owls is not best practice. They may grow up infertile but if they were then to breed with another owl their offspring could have severe health problems.”

Jemima Parry-Jones, from the International Centre for Bird of Prey, added: “These baby owls will be rare in the UK.

“It is irresponsible to breed two different types of owl even though the parents, in this case, are genetically similar.”

The Exotic Pet Refuge will be holding an open day on Sunday, May 20. For more details call 01778 345923.

FACTFILE... on breeds of bird

THE African Spotted Owl is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the Eagle Owls.

Its length is 45cm (18 inches) and its weight is from 480g to 850g (from one to 1.8 pounds).

It has a 100cm (39 inches) to 140cm (55 inches) wingspan.

It is found throughout most Africa south of the Sahara, with the exception of very dense forests.

The Indian Eagle Owl is a species of large horned owl found in South Asia.

They are found in hilly and rocky scrub forests, and are usually seen in pairs.

They have a deep resonant booming call that may be heard at dawn and dusk.

They are typically large owls, and have “tufts” on their heads. They are splashed with brown, and grey and have a white throat patch with black small stripes.

Video at:  http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/local/video-twowits-twowoos-of-rare-baby-owls-1-3829419

Dog nurses 2 ligers after tiger mom abandons them

In this photo taken on Thursday, May 19, 2011, a dog
nurses two liger cubs at a zoo in Weihai in east China's
Shandong province. Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo
in eastern China says four cubs were born to a female tiger
and a male lion on May 13. The tiger mom fed the ligers for
four days then for unknown reasons abandoned them, she
says. Chinese zoo workers brought in a dog to nurse them
instead, but two died of weakness. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

Posted on Tue, May. 24, 2011 04:50 AM
The Associated Press

A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother.

Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in eastern China says four cubs called ligers were born to the lion and tiger earlier this month.

She said Tuesday the tiger mother fed the ligers for four days but then abandoned them for unknown reasons. Two died of weakness.

Cong said staff at the zoo in Shandong province found a dog who had just given birth to feed the surviving cubs.

She said the two cubs had trouble at first drinking milk from the dog but are now used to it.

Ligers are rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/24/2898589/dog-nurses-ligers-after-tiger.html

Mysterious Killer Canid Stalking Bowen Island, B.C.

Residents of a small community in British Columbia have a mysterious killer in their midst and are taking steps to protect their pets, farm animals and small children.

An animal thought to be part timber wolf has been stalking Bowen Island, just off the coast of Vancouver, for about six months -- preying mainly on dogs and cats.

"Anyone who has family, has pets, and anyone who has seen it, seen the way it looks at you, knows that it's dangerous to have around," said island resident Stacey Powers.

Her husband John recently caught the animal on video, and saw it snatch a gosling out of a nearby pond.

The animal has "shown no fear of coming up close to the house," he said, "and obviously you don't want to have a concern that he's there and all of a sudden the kids are in his range." The family is keeping its pets indoors and young children nearby.

A local veterinarian believes it is part dog, part wolf and that it may have been abandoned after being brought to the island.

"They are a mixed-up species. They are part domestic with the instincts of a wolf," said Dr. Alastair Wescott. "They don't react normally and so people can't manage them, and so dumping them is a common thing to do."

It is thought to be a young male weighing about 90 pounds.

Missing pet signs are posted all over the island. The animal has killed at least three dogs, more than a dozen cats and two sheep. Many deer carcasses have also been found.

The municipality has set up a hotline, bought a tranquilizer gun, and enlisted both Westcott and a professional trapper to find the animal.

Once caught, it is expected to be euthanized. Rescue organizations have been contacted, but the animal's behaviour has been so vicious they say there's no chance of rehabilitation. - ctv

Click for video

**********

Hunting the wolf-dog of Bowen Island

Since appearing on Bowen Island, B.C., in December, an animal believed to be a wolf-dog hybrid has killed five dogs, six sheep and “more cats than we even know” says Chris Buchanan, the island’s bylaw services supervisor. It has taken numerous geese, raided two chicken coops and littered the island with deer carcasses.

“He’s definitely getting more bold,” says Stacey Powers, a resident of this 50-square-kilometre island located 20 minutes by ferry from West Vancouver. “I definitely don’t let my dog out, or my cats, or my kids.”

The island’s only veterinarian, Alastair Westcott, mounted a private campaign to stop the animal, his $2,000 high-powered tranquilizer rifle purchased especially for the task. He is intimately acquainted with the animal carcasses strewn about the island by the creature, but is yet to spot the canine itself.

“It’s my nemesis,” he says.

This week, local authorities — who have advised Bowen Islanders to “take precautions when hiking, or when allowing small children or pets outdoors unattended” — called in a professional trapper. He arrives just as the animal has begun targeting sheep. The attacks have come at dawn, with the animal leaping into a pen and tearing the throat out of several lambs and ewes in a matter of minutes.

“When he kills the sheep, he doesn’t really eat them … it almost seems to be a game,” says Mr. Westcott.

Normally, wolf-plagued communities need only call up the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, which sends in a team to capture or kill the animal. However, after officers examined some grainy video images of the Bowen Island creature, they determined that the animal was an escaped wolf-dog hybrid – and thus out of their jurisdiction.

Private attempts to kill the creature have been hampered by an island-wide ban on firearms.

“As you can appreciate, Bowen Island is a bedroom community to the Greater Vancouver area … the province has determined this is a no-shooting area,” says Cpl. Don Southern with the Bowen Island RCMP.

Illegal or not, local gun-owners are keeping their rifles close at hand, says resident Ed Booiman. In January, Mr. Booiman was the first Bowen Islander to get a good look at the creature when he came upon it eating his pet Sheltie. “Everybody’s hoping that someone will take this animal down,” he says.

The island’s mailboxes, bulletin boards and trailhead signs are now plastered with posters instructing residents to report sightings to a dedicated “Hybrid Hotline.” When residents phone in the animal’s position to the hotline, Mr. Westcott attempts to head it off by taking up a position in one of seven hunting blinds he has set up around the island.

“Initially, I just went out for a couple hours every few days or so,” says Mr. Westcott. “Now, it’s three to four hours a day.”

Wolves are notoriously hard to hunt, especially in a thickly wooded island about half the size of Manhattan. The municipality of Bowen Island has left traps for the animal, but to no avail.

In February, a loose wolf-dog was shot and killed by a farmer on nearby Salt Spring Island after it killed more than a dozen of his lambs. After discovering lamb carcasses on his property, farmer Ted Akerman grabbed his 12-gauge shogun and spent the night staking out his flock from the cab of his pickup truck. He was able to kill the dog when it came back for his sheep in the morning.

“People come to the island with a dog they can’t handle and they leave it here,” says Mr. Akerman. “I’ve had ferry workers tell me about people coming over with a big dog, and when they come back they don’t have it.”

Although domestic wolves are illegal in B.C., residents are allowed to own wolf-dog hybrids.

“It’s one of the real messes of wolf biology that people want to breed them because they think it’s sexy to have a wolf – and then they get loose and disappear,” says Bob Hayes, former wolf biologist for the Yukon Territory. The B.C. SPCA has long taken a strong stance against ownership of wolf-dog hybrids. “Crossing a wolf and crossing a dog generally undoes 12,000 years of domestication,” says Robert Busch, general manager of operations for the B.C. SPCA. The animal may seem friendly and dog-like, but it can easily “snap” and revert to its wild state.

Mr. Westcott still suspects that the animal could be a common wolf. - nationalpost

Original post: Wolf-dog hybrid puts B.C.’s Bowen Island in ‘lockdown’

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2011/05/mysterious-killer-canid-stalking-bowen.html

Wolf-dog hybrid puts B.C.’s Bowen Island in ‘lockdown’

Postmedia News Feb 18, 2011 – 12:02 PM ET
by Sean Sullivan

Residents of British Columbia’s Bowen Island are in “lockdown” as a marauding wolf-dog hybrid that has killed at least one dog continues to be spotted across the island, leading fearful residents to keep children and pets indoors.

The community, just north of Vancouver, has called in a private trapper to catch the mysterious animal, which was first sighted on Jan. 20 by resident Ed Booiman after it had killed his dog Penny.

“It’s awful to witness,” he said. “It basically killed my dog within 50 feet of the house and then dragged it into the bush.”

Mr. Booiman, who had gone to look for Penny when she didn’t turn up for dinner, interrupted the animal as it was eating his dog.

Since then, one Husky-cross dog and a string of cats have gone missing, he said, and partially eaten deer carcasses have been found on the island. One of the island’s prized swans has also been found dead.

“(The sightings) have helped tie a lot of pieces of the puzzle together here on Bowen Island with respect to missing animals,” Mr. Booiman said. “It’s got everybody so nervous.”

Chris Buchanan, the island’s bylaw services supervisor, said he’s now receiving reports of sightings “almost daily.”

“The municipality has contracted a trapper to come to the island to capture the beast,” Mr. Buchanan said Thursday. “It could be someone’s pet, we don’t know, so we’re using a humane trap.”

The B.C. Conservation Service is not involved, Mr. Buchanan said, as it doesn’t respond to incidents related to domestic or feral dogs — only wildlife.

The island has no coyotes, and no wolf packs are known to live within 100 kilometres of Bowen Island, RCMP said. Discharging firearms is prohibited on the island, so it’s unlikely a citizen will dispose of the animal.

Mr. Buchanan said reports indicate the wolf-dog weighs about 45 kilograms.

Residents won’t feel safe until the animal is trapped and euthanized, Mr. Booiman said.

“Parents aren’t letting their children walk to the school bus and everyone’s keeping their pets on leash,” Mr. Booiman said.

“That’s not what life here is like.”

Postmedia News
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/02/18/wolf-dog-hybrid-puts-b-c-s-bowen-island-in-lockdown/

Mutant turtles terrorising London ponds

Evening Standard
25 May 2011

Hybrid turtles are taking hold of London's parks and ponds.

Experts studying 1,600 square kilometres of London and the home counties were shocked to find 10 species and several hybrids. They even found rare African turtles in a Camden park.

Despite culls, numbers are growing. Tom Langton of the London Natural History Society said: "We found a big increase in the sightings of terrapins, a type of turtle popular in the Eighties due to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon series."

A government ban in 1997 has led to "lookalike" species being sold cheaply in pet shops. Mr Langton said he hoped all terrapins would be banned in the UK.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23953408-mutant-turtles-terrorising-london-ponds.do

It's all white to be a rare sight in the bush

A standout ... one of the albino wallaroos that has been spotted at Wolgan Valley
in the Blue Mountains. Photo: Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa

THAT is not an escaped lab mouse on steroids peering through the grass of the Wolgan conservation area in the Blue Mountains.

Nor is it a giant white rabbit on its way to a tea party.

It is, in fact, a rare albino wallaroo, one of three that have been delighting staff and visitors at the Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa.

"We've had sightings of one mature albino wallaroo on the property since opening 18 months ago, but to have two more spotted on the property is incredibly rare and exciting for us and our guests," the resort's general manager Joost Heymeijer said.

The resort's field guides have noticed the albino wallaroos are more timid and less trusting of humans than their grey brothers and sisters, and wait until it is darker to come out to feed.

The education program co-ordinator at Featherdale Wildlife Park in Doonside, Peter Spradbrow, said albinism is a rare condition where the skin, hair and eyes lack the pigment that gives them colour.

It is observed across many animal species, but in the wild it is difficult for an albino creature to reach adulthood.

''Albino animals are particularly at risk of predation because they stand out from their environment,'' Mr Spradbrow said.

And, to make matters worse, they suffer from skin cancers and other skin diseases because they lack the pigment which protects them from UV radiation.

Albinism often shows up when both parents pass on the albinism gene. Some individuals who look normal carry the gene but are not albino.

Featherdale has albino laughing kookaburras, blue-tongue lizards, common wallaroos and tammar wallabies. ''The weirdest example of an albino that I have ever seen is an albino red-bellied black-snake,'' Mr Spradbrow said.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/its-all-white-to-be-a-rare-sight-in-the-bush-20110416-1dio1.html
(Via Chad Arment)

Scientists Create a One of Kind Frog (Via HerpDigest)

Scientists Create a One of Kind Frog
by Wynne Parry
LiveScience Senior Writer
3/7/11
A newly bred hybrid frog - the offspring of two species of tropical leaf frogs - is one of a kind and even rarer than its endangered parents.

A scientist at The Manchester Museum inEngland allowed the two species of endangered Central American leaf frogs housed within the same chamber to interbreed to better understand how closely these parents are related. Understanding the genetic relationships between, and even within, species is important when trying to protect them.

This was a match made in lab heaven. The parents, Agalychnis annae and Agalychnis moreletii, wouldn't cross paths on their own, since they occupy different regions in Central America. In the past 30 years, populations of endangered leaf frogs have completely disappeared, particularly at cooler, high elevations. The amphibian-devastating chytrid fungus is implicated.

Frogs that have adapted to less fungus-friendly habitats are likely to be less at risk, making it important to identify the differences between populations, writes Andrew Gray, the museum's curator of herpetology, in a study that appeared in February in arXiv, an open archive maintained by Cornell University.

"There is also real concern that certain populations may disappear before their distinctiveness has even been established," Gray writes.

The parents look very much alike - in fact their skulls are nearly indistinguishable - but they have different coloration. Their love child resembles both, but is also distinct. It has dark red irises like the papa frog A. moreletii, and the purple-to-blue coloration along its flanks and thighs, like most A. annae, the mama frog. However, its hands and feet are more intense orange than seen in either parent.
Hybridization experiments like this are helpful in better understanding the inheritance of genes in amphibians, including those determining color patterns, the researchers

Ancient Mexicans bred wolf-dog hybrids, anthropological study finds (via Chad Arment)

Mexican researchers said Wednesday they have identified jawbones found in the pre-Hispanic ruins of Teotihuacan as those of wolf-dogs that were apparently crossbred as a symbol of the city's warriors.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History said the jawbones were found during excavations in 2004 and are the first physical evidence of what appears to be intentional crossbreeding in ancient Mexican cultures.

The jawbones were found in a warrior's burial at a Teotihuacan pyramid. Anthropological studies performed at Mexico's National Autonomous University indicate the animal was a wolf-dog.

"In oral traditions and old chronicles, dog-like animals appear with symbols of power or divinity," said institute spokesman Francisco De Anda. "But we did not have skeletal evidence ... this is the first time we have proof."

Wolf- or dog-like creatures appear in paintings at Teotihuacan, but had long been thought to be depictions of coyotes, which also inhabit the region. But archaeologists are now reevaluating that interpretation.

Several jawbones were made into a sort of decorative garment found on the warrior's skeleton at the 2,000-year-old site north of Mexico City.

The wolf-dog apparently served as a symbol of strength and power.


Dogs and wolves are very similar genetically, and there has been evidence of ancient remains that may show natural crossbreeding.

But archaeologist Raul Valadez said the animal was the result of intentional selection. While the inhabitants of Teotihuacan had dogs, wolves and coyotes, they almost exclusively used wolf-dog bones in the ceremonial arrangement.

Of the bones found, eight were wolf-dog, three were dogs and two were crosses of coyotes and wolf-dogs.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/12/ancient-mexicans-bred-wolf-dog-hybrids-anthropological-study-finds.html

Mating Mystery: Hybrid Animals Hint at Desperation in Arctic

(sk) Mating Mystery: Hybrid Animals Hint at Desperation in Arctic


An odd-looking white bear with patches of brown fur was shot by hunters in 2006 and found to be a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly bear. Apparently, grizzlies were moving north into polar bear territory. Since then, several hybrid animals have appeared in and around the Arctic, including narwhal-beluga whales and mixed porpoises.

The culprit may be melting Arctic sea ice, which is causing barriers that once separated marine mammals to disappear, while the warming planet is making habitats once too cold for some animals just right. The resulting hybrid creatures are threatening the survival of rare polar animals, according to a comment published today (Dec. 15) in the journal Nature. [ Real of Fake? 8 Bizarre Hybrid Animals]

A team led by ecologist Brendan Kelly of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory counted 34 possible hybridizations between distinct populations or species of Arctic marine mammals, many of which are endangered or threatened.

"The greatest concern is species that are already imperiled," said Kelly, first author of the Nature comment. "Interbreeding might be the final straw."

Pizzlies and Narlugas
When hunters encountered a hybrid of a polar bear and a grizzly in 2006, Kelly's colleagues remarked that the incident was just a fluke. But as Kelly delved into the issue, he found more evidence of similar anomalies. In 2009, a cross between a bowhead and a right whale was spotted in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Russia. And a museum specimen in Alaska attests to breeding between spotted seals (Phoca largha) and ribbon seals (Histriophoca fasciata), which belong to different genera, a scientific classification of organisms that is broader than the species level.

Evidence suggests at least five other types of hybrids that may arise from animals of distinct genera, Kelly's team reported. These include:

* Narwhal (Monodon monoceros ) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas)

* Ringed seal (Phoca hispida) and ribbon seal (Histriophoca fasciata)

* Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) and right whale (Eubalaena spp.)

* Harp seal (Phoca groenandica) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata)

* Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)

Breedings between these marine mammals near the North Pole are likely to result in fertile offspring, because many of these animals have the same number of chromosomes, said comment co-author Andrew Whiteley, a conservation geneticist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Chromosomes that are unmatched in number cannot pair during meiosis, a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction. During meiosis, chromosomes duplicate and the cell divides to form daughter cells, which split apart to form gametes, or mature sexual reproductive cells. But with unmatched chromosomes, the split into gametes would be uneven, creating sterility.

Over the short term the hybrid offspring from these Arctic animal matings will likely be strong and healthy, because unlike inbreeding, which magnifies deleterious genes, so-called outbreeding can mask these genes. Most of these genes are recessive, meaning the offspring need a pair to actually show the trait. Different species or different genera generally don't have the same bad recessive alleles, and so there's not a high chance of a pair turning up. (Alleles are different versions of the same gene.)

But over time, as the hybrids mate randomly, those harmful genes will come out of hiding and make the offspring less fit and less capable of surviving, Whiteley warned.

Kelly said that breeding between species usually isn't beneficial when it's caused by accelerated environmental change, because the hybrid animals don't have time to evolve survival traits. "This change is happening so rapidly that it doesn't bode well for adaptive responses."

http://www.livescience.com/animals/hybrid-animals-arctic-climate-101215.html

'Ligers' bred in Taiwan zoo

A private zoo in Taiwan could be fined after breeding 'ligers' – a cross between a lion and a tiger.

Published: 6:36PM BST 16 Aug 2010

The zoo is the island's first to breed the hybrid of a lion and a tigress, but officials seized the cubs and said they may fine the owner.

The three liger cubs were born in Taiwan on Sunday at the World Snake King Education Farm in the south, but one of them died almost immediately.

"The pregnancy of the tigress caught me totally unprepared," said Huang Kuo-nan, the farm's owner.

"The lion and the tigress have been kept in the same cage since they were cubs more than six years ago, and nothing happened."

But the Tainan county government later in the day seized the two baby ligers, relocating them to a home for wild animals in another southern county.

"What else can I do? I respect the decision, but I hope the two cubs can be taken good care of," Mr Kuo-nan said.

He faces a fine of up to 50,000 Taiwan dollars (£1,000) for breeding wildlife without authorities' prior approval, said the Council of Agriculture.

According to the Taipei-based Apple Daily, there are only around 10 surviving ligers in the world, with adult ligers capable of growing much larger than average lions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/taiwan/7948783/Ligers-bred-in-Taiwan-zoo.html

Uncommon hybrid of zebra and donkey born at north Georgia wildlife preserve (Via D R Shoop)

http://www.startribune.com/nation/99337569.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUMEaPc:E7_ec7PaP3iUiacyKU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUX

DAHLONEGA, Ga. - A zedonk, an unusual cross between a donkey and a zebra, is attracting attention at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega after being born there about a week ago. The animal, which has a zebra father and donkey mother, has black stripes prominently displayed on her legs and face.

C.W. Wathen, the preserve's founder and general manager, said the foal has a zebra's instincts. Wathen said she sits up instead of lying on her side, as if she's staying alert for predators.

Donkeys and zebras don't usually mate, but zedonks turn up occasionally.

Wathen said that in about two weeks, the zedonk will begin roaming the property with the rest of the animals.

___

Information from: The Times, http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/

Pictured: 'Ugly' chick born with four wings

A bizarre and "ugly" looking bird was born out of a chicken egg with four wings.

By Andrew Hough
Published: 7:30AM BST 15 May 2010

The extremely rare chicken-guinea fowl hybrid, which is called a guin, was born on Lyn Newman's smallholding.

The 59 year-old raises a number of fowl in Defford, Worcs, but she was astonished when one of her eggs hatched into a weird looking bird even she couldn't identify.

The tiny bird was covered in clumps of feathers and - most strangely of all - had four wings.

The retired social care worker had to trawl the internet before she realised that this bizarre bird was a hybrid.

A rogue guinea had mated with one of her hens, which left the ugly chick.

The four wings are a result of a genetic mutation because of the cross-species breeding.

"I was just shocked when I saw that this thing that hatched had four wings," she said.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. I had no idea what it was until I did some digging around on the internet.

"As well as having extra wings, the bird is also much smaller and is a totally different shape."

She added: "I was shocked when I found out it was a cross between a guinea and a chicken - you just don't expect it. Apparently the cross is very rare.

"But she's settling in really well, and doesn't seem to realise that it's different from all the other chicks. She's just one of the gang.

"We haven't given her a name yet, but the chick very easily identifiable among all its friends."

She continued: "She's an odd looking bird, and apparently extremely rare. I had no idea that guineas could actually breed with chickens.

"I've seen a guinea flying around, so probably soon we'll be overrun with these weird looking birds.

"She's a real character and is one of the gang. I'm thinking of selling her at auction, as apparently guinea-chicken crosses are very rare and also infertile. I'm sure that she will find a very loving home, and that people won't be put off by her four wings."

Sharon Boundy, who operates UK Guinea Fowl, said the hybrid bird sounded like a freak of nature with its four wings.

"It is very rare for chickens and guinea fowl to breed. I've only known of one other guinea-chick in my many years in the business," she said.

"It's especially unusual for them to have four wings though - I've never heard of anything like it.

"It's not dangerous for the two species to breed but they don't tend to go near each other."

She added: "But obviously a guinea fowl just fancied a chicken for a change. Crosses between species can be very odd looking, and this seems to be no exception."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7722786/Pictured-Ugly-chick-born-with-four-wings.html

Six amazing hybrid animals

Bryan Nelson, Mother Nature Network – Mon May 3, 6:28 pm ET

Ligers, tigons and grolar bears, oh my! Take a look at some of these otherworldly hybrid animals and you'll realize the possibilities are endless.

Though they rarely occur in nature, individuals from different but closely related species do occasionally mate, and the result is a biological hybrid — an offspring that shares traits from both parent species. You may have heard of the mysterious sheep-pig creature, but it turns out that one isn't a true hybrid.

Here are six bizarre, but truly unique half-breeds.

(Photo: Wiki Commons / GNU)Zebroids

A zebroid is the offspring of a cross between a zebra and any other equine, usually a horse or a donkey. There are zorses, zonkeys, zonies, and a host of other combinations.

Zebroids are an interesting example of hybrids bred from species that have a radically different number of chromosomes. For instance, horses have 64 chromosomes and zebra have between 32 and 44 (depending on species). Even so, nature finds a way.

(Photo: Jason Douglas / Wiki Commons / public domain)Savannah cats

Savannah cats are -- contrary to popular belief -- from a coastal town in Georgia. But what they are is what you get from mixing your everyday domestic cat with an African Serval cat. Historians believe the first one was bred sometime in the mid 1980s by a cat breeder in, of all places, Pennsylvania. The International Cat Association first recognized the cat in 1996. The hybrid cat can now be purchased or perused in copies of 'Savannah's Illustrated' magazine.

(Photo: aliwest44 / Flickr)Ligers

Ligers are the cross of a male lion and a female tiger, and they are the largest of all living cats and felines. Their massive size may be a result of imprinted genes which are not fully expressed in their parents, but are left unchecked when the two different species mate. Some female ligers can grow to 10 feet in length and weigh more than 700 pounds.

Ligers are distinct from tigons, which come from a female lion and male tiger. Various other big cat hybrids have been created too, including leopons (a leopard and a lion mix), jaguleps (a jaguar and leopard mix), and even lijaguleps (a lion and jagulep mix).

(Photo: Mark Interrante (aka pinhole) / Flickr)Wholphins

A cross between a false killer whale and an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, wholphins are hybrids that have been reported to exist in the wild. There are currently two in captivity, both at Sea Life Park in Hawaii.

The wholphin's size, color, and shape are intermediate between the parent species. Even their number of teeth is mixed; a bottlenose has 88 teeth, a false killer whale has 44 teeth, and a wholphin has 66.

(Photo: via Inhabitots.com)Grolar bears

The offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear, a grolar bear is one beast you don't want to meet in the woods. Interestingly, unlike many hybrid animals on this list, grolar bears are known to occur naturally in the wild.

Some experts predict that polar bears may be driven to breed with grizzly bears at an increased frequency due to global warming, and the fact that polar bears are being forced from their natural habitats on the polar ice.

(Photo: via readthesmiths.com)Beefalo

Beefalo are the fertile offspring of domestic cattle and American bison. Crosses also exist between domestic cattle and European bison (zubrons) and yaks (yakows). The name given to beefalo might be the most suggestive, since the breed was purposely created to combine the best characteristics of both animals with an eye towards beef production.

A USDA study showed that beefalo meat, like bison meat, tends to be lower in fat and cholesterol. They are also thought to produce less damage to range-land than cattle.

Bryan Nelson is a regular contributor to Mother Nature Network, where a version of this post originally appeared.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100503/sc_ygreen/sixamazinghybridanimals