Talk:List of genetic hybrids

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List of genetic hybrids is within the scope of WikiProject Animals, an attempt to better organize information in articles related to animals and zoology. For more information, visit the project page.AnimalsWikipedia:WikiProject AnimalsTemplate:WikiProject Animalsanimal articles

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The first paragraph says that a hybrid is created when "animals of differing species able to create hybrid offspring which may or may not be infertile". To the best of my knowledge, the most current, widely-accepted definition of "species" is of a group of animals which can give rise, upon mating, to a fertile offspring. Thus... By that definition, "different species" (i.e. groups which cannot give rise to a fertile offspring if they mate with one another) cannot create offspring which "may not be infertile". I.e., if the offspring is fertile than its parents both belong to one species. No?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.180.102.53 (talk • contribs)

Inter-species fertility as a criterion of "what makes a species a species" is a very touchy-feely subject, as there are numerous examples of two species producing only infertile hybrid offspring (i.e., big cat hybrids), numerous examples of novel lineages descended from hybrid offspring (orchid hybrids, the situation of wheat domestication, and the Honeysuckle maggot), and even situations of where otherwise infertile hybrids can produce offspring themselves due to some miraculous fluke (again, the situation of wheat domestication).

Or, as a counterexample, domesticated dogs, wolves and coyotes are all demonstratively separate species, but all have demonstrated to be able to produce fertile offspring with each other. Would you then insist on contesting them being separate species?--Mr Fink (talk) 22:06, 24 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]