Hybrid (biology)

In biology a hybrid, also known as cross breed, is the result of mixing, through sexual reproduction, two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species or genera. Using genetic terminology, it may be defined as follows:

From a taxonomic perspective, hybrid refers to:

The term hybrid is derived from Latin hybrida, meaning the "offspring of a tame sow and a wild boar", "child of a freeman and slave", etc. The term came into popular use in English in the 19th century, though examples of its use have been found from the early 17th century.

There is a popular convention of naming hybrids by forming portmanteau words. This became common in the 1920s, with the breeding of tiger-lion hybrids (liger and tigon). This was playfully (but unsystematically) extended to a number of other hybrids, or hypothetical hybrids, such as beefalo (1960s), humanzee (1980s), and cama (1998).

Depending on the parents, there are a number of different types of hybrids;

Interspecific hybrids are bred by mating two species, normally from within the same genus. The offspring display traits and characteristics of both parents. The offspring of an interspecific cross are often sterile; thus, hybrid sterility prevents the movement of genes from one species to the other, keeping both species distinct. Sterility is often attributed to the different number of chromosomes between the two species. For example, donkeys have 62 chromosomes, while horses have 64 chromosomes, and mules and hinnies have 63 chromosomes. Mules, hinnies, and other normally sterile interspecific hybrids cannot produce viable gametes, because differences in chromosome structure prevent appropriate pairing and segregation during meiosis, meiosis is disrupted, and viable sperm and eggs are not formed. However, fertility in female mules has been reported with a donkey as the father.

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