• Question: How do you get cross specied animals? Do the parents have to be similar types of animal?

    Asked by skywombat2000 to Alberto, Chris, Emmanuel, Jennie, Michelle on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Chris Whittle

      Chris Whittle answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      They originate by normal means of reproduction, but they are often born sterile (unable to have children), and may have other problems as well. The parents have to be similar animals because they need to have very similar DNA, as DNA can only work properly when it is mixed with DNA that is similar.

    • Photo: Alberto Lapedriza

      Alberto Lapedriza answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      To get a hybrid animal the parents have to be very similar, not only physically but also they have to be very evolutionarily related, and have a very similar DNA. If they are similar enough, they can mate, but still, the descendants are usually sterile, which means that they cannot mate to have more descendants.

      This is what happens when donkeys and horses mate. They are very similar, and they can get descendants (mules). But mules are sterile and cannot give birth to more mules. This is because donkeys and horses are different species.

    • Photo: Michelle Taylor

      Michelle Taylor answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Cross breeding is very rare and usually only occurs when animals who are very closely related, such as horses and donkeys, share the same habitat or are put together by people who own zoos or farms. Organisms are very complex and usually need to mate with another member of their own species so that their genes and chromosomes match up properly and can develop. They have lots of ways to make sure they mate with the right species, such as special behavior involved in mating or chemical signals between sperm and eggs that you might think of as a ‘lock and key’.

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