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Sterility and Fertility of Interspecific Mammalian Hybrids

  • Chapter
Comparative Aspects of Reproductive Failure

Abstract

The term Hybrid, according to the Oxford dictionary, was first used in 1601 to describe the offspring of a tame sow and a wild boar, hence also a half-breed. More specifically, hybrids are the results of crosses between different animal species and best known for their utility are the mule and the hinny, the offspring of horse × donkey matings. Hybridization between different mammalian species has been described to occur in nature but much more commonly it is the result of intentional breeding programs or it has occurred in zoos where sexual experience of various species living in the same enclosure is limited to members of other species. Descriptions of numerous hybrids have been accumulated in the admirable collective review by Gray (1954). In addition, this monograph gathers some information on attempted but unsuccessful hybridization and, also, it gives the limited information available on the fertility of these crosses.

Supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, GM 10210.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA

    K. Benirschke

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  1. K. Benirschke
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  1. Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, N.H., USA

    Kurt Benirschke

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Benirschke, K. (1967). Sterility and Fertility of Interspecific Mammalian Hybrids. In: Benirschke, K. (eds) Comparative Aspects of Reproductive Failure. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48949-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-48949-5_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-48951-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-48949-5

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