Re: Species [arbitrary to a degree]

["Tim Williams" <tijawi@hotmail.com>]

Eric Lurio wrote:

> Then there's the case of the hybrid elephant, which shows that the genus
> "Loxodanta" shouldn't actually exist.

Not a good criterion for deciding if a genus is valid, IMHO.  There are 
quite a few intergeneric mammal crosses on record.  For example, a hybrid 
between a dromedary (_Camelus dromedarius_) and a guanaco (_Lama guanicoe_):

http://www.nature.com/nsu/990506/990506-7.html

This camel-guanaco cross was the result of artificial insemination.  But 
some intergeneric liaisons do occur naturally (well, sort of).  There's a 
hybrid offspring from a bottlenose dolphin (_Tursiops truncatus_) + false 
killer whale (_Pseudorca crassidens_) cross.  The "wholphin" was bred in 
captivity in Hawaii - by accident, apparently.  I hadn't heard of the wild 
_Lissodelphis_-_Lagenorhynchus_ hybrid mentioned by Darren.

The _Loxodonta africana_ x _Elephas maximus_ infant male hybrid ("Motty") 
was bred in captivity at Chester Zoo in 1978.  I had thought it lived for 10 
days, before succumbing to a bacterial infection.  Young Motty is now in the 
collections of Britain's Natural History Museum.



Tim

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