dailymail.co.uk— Scientists found 57 hybrids off Queensland and New South Wales in Australia - and the new creatures could eventually replace the two shark species that created them, said scientists.
Jan 3, 2012View in Crawl 4
Making sharks stronger is always interesting news! I am sure that sharks get over-hunted, and this seems to be the scientist way of helping the shark population.
Taken from wiki - Koi may also interbreed with the goldfish to produce a sterile hybrid fish.
But if you look at the goldfish page - there are lot (even some wild) carps they can interbred with - and in shapes and colors one would 'expect' them to be from different species even.
While this is true I'd like to add two points:
A lot of 'species' were named/identified long before the knowledge and the abililty to test their genetics if they 'deserved' to be accounted for different species (usually not capable of interbreeding) was available.
Second all your examples are from mammals - there is much less knowledge about the reproductive capabilities of fish - and not just any fish but sharks. There are still fish around capable of asexual reproduction for instance.
There isn't a solid criteria for dividing species based on genetic differences either. In practice, species status is usually granted when two populations do not overlap and interbreed. Occasionally two large populations are connected by a an area with low populations and specimens that show hybrid-like characteristics. Within a species they are called intergrades. That may be the case here, there were always intermediate sharks in this area and this is just the first time we've found them.
Many different species, and even different genera, can be crossed to produce fertile offspring, so that's not a good way of defining species either. Turns out that evolution didn't evolve to put groups of animals into tidy little boxes for us.
terryallisonJan 3, 2012
Making sharks stronger is always interesting news! I am sure that sharks get over-hunted, and this seems to be the scientist way of helping the shark population.
mattcoxonlineJan 3, 2012
Whenever someone links me to the Daily Mail, I die a little inside.
LongBJan 4, 2012
Will they have lasers attached to their heads?
redhautemamaJan 4, 2012
Hybrid shark? That's sounds interesting, just leave them at their natural habitat. They don't need to kill it.
durtXJan 4, 2012
Does that also mean that with the change in climate, all animals are capable of being hybrid?
ninhJan 3, 2012
If they are actual hybrids they have great difficulty creating progeny. See Tiglons, Ligers, Hinnies and Mules.
yerragoJan 4, 2012
But hybrids of koi and goldfish can really thrive. So hybrid sharks may easily go forth and multiply.
murxJan 4, 2012
Taken from wiki - Koi may also interbreed with the goldfish to produce a sterile hybrid fish.
But if you look at the goldfish page - there are lot (even some wild) carps they can interbred with - and in shapes and colors one would 'expect' them to be from different species even.
murxJan 4, 2012
While this is true I'd like to add two points:
A lot of 'species' were named/identified long before the knowledge and the abililty to test their genetics if they 'deserved' to be accounted for different species (usually not capable of interbreeding) was available.
Second all your examples are from mammals - there is much less knowledge about the reproductive capabilities of fish - and not just any fish but sharks. There are still fish around capable of asexual reproduction for instance.
prometheansparkJan 4, 2012
There isn't a solid criteria for dividing species based on genetic differences either. In practice, species status is usually granted when two populations do not overlap and interbreed. Occasionally two large populations are connected by a an area with low populations and specimens that show hybrid-like characteristics. Within a species they are called intergrades. That may be the case here, there were always intermediate sharks in this area and this is just the first time we've found them.
Many different species, and even different genera, can be crossed to produce fertile offspring, so that's not a good way of defining species either. Turns out that evolution didn't evolve to put groups of animals into tidy little boxes for us.
Closed AccountJan 3, 2012
This is news.. we do no dare to disturb hybrid sharks