Crossbreeding to Save Species and Create New Ones
Source: Mark Derr, New York Times, July 9, 2002: F3.
Evolution (the adaptation of species to their environment) is effected by hybridization, says a biology professor at Indiana University and other scientists. A hybrid is created by organisms from two different species mating and producing offspring. This is common in some smaller species like mice and some bigger species like sunfish. It is also especially common between dogs, wolves, and coyotes. Some animals, though, cannot crossbreed due to the differentiation of species. The creation of a hybrid is more common to happen in captivity than in the wild, though wild hybrids have been found. When hybrids are found in the wild a group of them can usually be found in a certain zone and if the zone is not replenished the hybrid species will die out. Hybridization also has a quite noble job in the world of conservation. The use of breeding close relatives of species together has saved some species from extinction. For example, in the 1990s the Florida panther was saved from being extinct by crossing it with its relative the Texas cougar. Species that cannot be crossbred with a relative may die out.
Being able to create hybrids allows scientists to study the different dominant traits of different animals. For instance, I saw a cross between a tiger and a lion in a magazine once. The � Liger� or so they called it, had stripes like the tiger, but the larger body size of a lion. This shows that a striped coat is more dominant than the sandy coat of a lion and that the body size of a lion is more dominant than the smaller size of the tiger. Scientists could cross different kinds of birds to see which feather colors, feather orientations, and beak configurations are more dominant in bird species. I have a fish his name is Squirt and he is a hybrid. Being a fish breeder (though it is just a hobby and I am an amateur), I know his lineage. His father was a primarily orange swordtail, who�s mother was primarily orange, and his mother was a primarily black guppy. He turned out primarily orange, like his father, with a smoky haze on his body nearer to his tail, which his mother had also. This shows that the orange trait was more dominant. Also he will be able to reproduce because guppies and swordtails are both live-bearing fish making their species quite close.
Another biological gain would be that we could take the best traits from two different but related species and make a super animal. For example, if we could take the extreme speed of a cheetah, the agility of a panther, and the strength of a lion to create a super cat. Some hybrids are used today to make our lives easier by taking the good traits from two different species. An example of this is the mule. They took the good temperament and larger body of a horse and mixed it with the steadiness and strength of a mule. They are used for mountain trails that are too steep or not wide enough for cars. They are also used for trail rides used for vacation spots and summer camps for kids because of their good temperament. In olden days they were used to carry the heavy carts from the mines in and out laden with coal, ore, and other minerals.
| Mad Cow Disease | Habitual Loss and Extinction In Hotspots | Crossbreeding |
| The Bone Crunchers | Hybridization and Extinction | Jumping Genes |
| Home | Books | Poet's Corner | Quotes | Artist's Pallet | Photographer's Dream | Science Lab | Favorite Links |