Monday, October 7, 2013

When Mules Mate

Okay,so mules can't actually reproduce,but this is only because of a differing number of chromosomes in donkeys and horses and that is not the case with many other hybrids. With the diminishing of the Arctic ice cap the former barrier is no longer preventing species,once separated, from now mating. In the case of the Grolar Bear (Grizzly and Polar aka Prizzly and Pizzly) it has been documented that not only are they reproducing in the wild,there have been confirmed evidence of second generation hybrids. At first glance it doesn't seem like anything to get overly excited about,but it most likely will lead to the extinction of the polar bear. The same cross breeding is also happening with other species,Narwahl/Beluga (whales) mixes with the offspring lacking the narwahl tusk. Seals/walruses and sea lions have also joined the gene swap. Granted it would be a shame to lase some of these unique critters,but it may already be to late to change the end result.
A bear believed to be a "pizzly," a hybrid between a polar bear and a grizzly bear.

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