In the previous article, we already introduced some unusual hybrids. Today, we'll look at a few more. Such animals rarely appear in the wild because they live in different, often very distant, regions. Typically, such individuals are born in zoos around the world, or they are deliberately bred through crossbreeding to produce an animal with specific traits.
Tigon (tiglon, tyglon, tigon or tion) = tiger + lioness
We are already familiar with its larger brother, the ligon (tigress + lion). The tigon is a result of crossing the same animals, but with a change in the sex of the parents - the cub is born as a result of the union of a tiger and a lioness.
The difference may seem small, but the animals grow up looking completely different.
This hybrid is much smaller in stature (even smaller than its parents) and is very rare, since such a pair of animals does not interbreed well; apparently, the tiger does not perceive the playful behavior of the lioness as a call to mate.
The tigon resembles a tiger with a small mane. The two animals don't coexist in the wild, as tigers live in Asia and lions in Africa.
The males of such hybrids are sterile, but the females can produce offspring, resulting in titigons and liligers.
Coywolf (Eastern coyote) = coyote + wolf
One of the rarest hybrid animals, the coywolf is native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. The coywolf is not particularly beautiful, typically larger than the coyote (weighing up to 50 kg, while the coyote weighs up to 21 kg), and is more similar in appearance to wolves.
Often, to determine what species an animal is—a hybrid or a red wolf—it is necessary to do a DNA test.
Wolves and coyotes separated into distinct species approximately 300,000 years ago, but the species inhabited adjacent territories and interbreeding still occurs. Coyotes, however, diverged from European wolves over 2 million years ago, and interbreeding with them is only possible in laboratory conditions.
Savannah
This cat is quite popular, but not everyone knows its origins. It was created by crossing a common cat and a serval (common in Africa).
It differs from other cats in its unusual coloring - red with black spots, large size and long paws.
Savannahs are friendly and playful.
Leopon = lion + leopard
The head is smaller than a lion's, and the skin is covered with faded brown spots; the body length is 1.5–2.4 m. Males have a sparse mane and a black tuft on the tail.
The unique offspring first appeared in India in 1910 and became a sensation in the world of science.
Yaglev (yaglion) = lion + jaguar
An equally amazing and very rare animal, similar to a jaguar, is predominantly grey-black in colour.
A stuffed specimen of such a lion is kept in the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum (in England).
These are the amazing animals that inhabit our planet. And the curious human mind is once again searching for opportunities to hybridize and create new species.
