Hybrids

[jeanettejk]

Are all hybrids ie ligers, mules etc infertile, i'm sure i read somewhere that they are but i'm not sure

[Ethel]

Yes

[wildwood]

Not all, but the vast majority. Some of the closely related matings [but still different species] can produce the odd fertile young capable of breeding.

The 'red' canary for instance is the result of a mating between the red Siskin Carduelis cucullata and the Canary Serinus canaria which produces a fair proportion of fertile hybrids.
We also know that different species of dolphins interbreed, even in the wild, and are able to reproduce their genes - usually with the species that they hook up with.

[jake-the-peg]

It's a bit more complicated than that.

All male tions and ligers so far observed have been infertile. This is not the case for the females.

Consequently you can have Li-tions and Ti-ligers etc.

http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/tigons.html

The definition of a species is not as solid as saying they must be able to produce fertile young.

Firstly that doesn't help you with asexual reproduction species secondly it's a bit difficult to test. Per haps a black widow spider could have fertile off spring with a funnelweb - Good luck in convincing them to try!

Thirdly as already pointed out e - hybrids between dogs and Wolves spring to mind but here's a specific example

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5080298.st m

[jeanettejk]

thank you very much, i think i'll stop arguing that i'm right now, as it seems i'm sort of maybe a little bit wrong