I learned about Liger today. Liger is a cross between a Lion and Tiger. If that is possible, what are the closest primates to humans that are compatible for such hybrid breeding? Explain in simple terms.
Chimps! Though we share 98% of DNA with the chimps, still we are genetically diverse with them and a cross breeding is in tough scientific and ethical grounds. Quite a few researches had created chimeras between Humans and rabbits, mice, pigs and other animals. But a full hybrid with humans on the other hand is not that easy.
Liger is a hybrid offspring from two different species under the same genus. Under the genus ‘homo’, homo sapiens are the only existing species. We simply don’t have a compatible animal to cross with.
Is there a rule that animals can only breed successfully with other species under the same genus? Alpaar’s answer suggests that breeding with other species from a different genus is possible.
I did not mean to imply that it is possible. It’s just not that easy. The definition of the taxonomies is so hardly rooted in a single statement that defines them. Two animals can be put inside a genus if they can reproduce and form a fertile offspring. XXelianXX’s answer puts this in a simpler manner. Early humans bred with Neanderthals (different species – Homo neanderthalensis). It is the way we classify them.
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