Biology Concepts Codexery

Hybrid (biology)

Offspring from combining two different organisms through sexual reproduction.

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Hybrids can show hybrid vigor, sometimes growing larger or taller than either parent.[1] In a hybrid, every cell contains genetic material from two distinct organisms; this contrasts with a chimera, where only a portion of cells originate from a different organism.[1]

Quick Facts

Field
Biology
Known for
Offspring from combining two different organisms via sexual reproduction
Types
  • Genetic hybrid
  • structural hybrid
  • numerical hybrid
  • permanent hybrid
Examples
  • Beefalo
  • wolfdog
  • liger
  • tigon
  • cama
  • pumapard
  • sturddlefish
  • wholphin

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Hybridization between species plays an important role in evolution, though its significance is debated.[2] The Latin word hybrida, used for crosses like that of a tame sow with a wild boar, is the origin of the term hybrid.[3] Beginning in the 1920s with tiger–lion crosses such as the liger and tigon, notable hybrids have been given portmanteau names.[4] The kunga, an equid hybrid created 4,500 years ago in what is now Umm el-Marra, Syria, is the earliest known animal hybrid produced by humans.[5]

In plants, hybridization is a very frequent route to speciation and is essential to their evolutionary development.[6] There is considerable disagreement among scientists regarding the conservation effects of hybridization between species.[7] Hybridization may endanger rare species by overwhelming pure individuals, yet it could also preserve a rare lineage by bringing in genetic variation.[7] Human-caused changes to the environment, such as fragmenting habitats and introducing species, strongly affect hybridization.[8]

What the research sources say

The same consultation noted that Canada banned true hybrid and cytoplasmic hybrid embryos in 2004, while Australia prohibited all types of hybrid and chimera embryos in 2006.[9] During cold spells, the fossil record suggests these hybrid bison did better than their parent species.[10] A hybrid bear shot in Canada in 2006 was confirmed as the offspring of a male grizzly bear and a female polar bear.[11] Naturally occurring hybrid populations have characteristic traits that distinguish them from pure populations unaffected by hybridization.[12]

Hybrid zones are found in all major groups of sexual organisms.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Taddeo, "'Hybrids and Chimeras: A Consultation on the Ethical and Social Implications of Creating Human/Animal Embryos in Research' 2007, by the HFEA", The Embryo Project, 4 November 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Quilodran, "Harmonizing hybridization dissonance in conservation", Communications Biology, 2020, p. 391; Twyford, "Next-generation hybridization and introgression", Heredity, 2012, p. 179–189 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hybrid" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "When the sire is a lion the result is termed a Liger, while the converse is a Tigon." Edward George Boulenger, World natural history, B. T. Batsford ltd., 1937 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Part donkey, part wild ass, the kunga is the oldest known hybrid bred by humans", Science News, 14 January 2022; Magazine, "This Ancient Wild Ass Was the Earliest Known Animal Hybrid Bred by Humans", Smithsonian Magazine (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Soltis, "The Role of Hybridization in Plant Speciation", Annual Review of Plant Biology, 2009, p. 561–568 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hirasheiki, "Concern over hybridization risks should not preclude conservation interventions", Conservation Science and Practice, 2021; Todesco, "Hybridization and extinction", Evolutionary Applications, 2016, p. 892–908; Chan, "Hybridization as a conservation management tool", Conservation Letters, 2019; Quilodran, "Harmonizing hybridization dissonance in conservation", Communications Biology, 2020, p. 391; Miller, "Interspecies hybridization in the conservation toolbox: response to Kovach et al. (2016)", Conservation Biology, 2016, p en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Hybrid (biology)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allendorf, "The problems with hybrids: setting conservation guidelines", Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2001, p. 613–622; Ehrlich, "Impact of population Growth", Science, 26 March 1971, p. 1212–1216 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Taddeo, "'Hybrids and Chimeras: A Consultation on the Ethical and Social Implications of Creating Human/Animal Embryos in Research' 2007, by the HFEA", The Embryo Project, 4 November 2014. facts only, no text reused. embryo.asu.edu
  10. Daley, "Cave Paintings Help Unravel the Mystery of the 'Higgs Bison'", Smithsonian. facts only, no text reused. smithsonianmag.com
  11. "Hybrid bear shot dead in Canada", BBC News, 13 May 2006. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
  12. McCarthy, "Hybrid Populations", Macroevolution. facts only, no text reused. macroevolution.net

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hybrid (biology) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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