Do lion-tiger hybrids (ligers) really exist?

Answer 1

yes. This might help.
The liger is a cross (a hybrid) between a male lion and a female tiger. It is therefore a member of genus Panthera. A liger looks like a giant lion with diffused stripes. Some male ligers grow sparse manes. Like tigers, but unlike lions, ligers enjoy swimming.

Unfortunately, the crossed genes of this species causes it to have health problems, including a high probability of blindness and infertility.

A cross between a male tiger and a female lion is called a tigon. According to "The Tiger, Symbol of Freedom" (Nicholas Courtney, editor), rare reports have been made of tigresses mating with lions in the wild.

Ligers grow much larger than tigers or lions. Some have been estimated to weigh over 500 kg (1100 lb)[1], over twice the size of a male lion; this is called growth dysplasia.

One possible hypothesis is that the lion's sperm is damaged somehow during fertilization and that a growth-inhibiting gene is typically destroyed.[citation needed] Female tigons and female ligers both possess a tiger X chromosome and a lion X chromosome, yet only the female ligers will grow large, which suggests that either something happens to alter the genes or the cause of the growth dysplasia lies at least partially outside of genetics.

Imprinted genes may be a factor contributing to liger size.[citation needed] These are genes that may or may not be expressed depending on the parent they are inherited from, and that occasionally play a role in issues of hybrid growth. For example, in some mice species crosses, genes that are expressed only when paternally-inherited cause the young to grow larger than is typical for either parent species. This growth is not seen in the paternal species, as such genes are normally "counteracted" by genes inherited from the female of the appropriate species. [2]

Another possible hypothesis is that the growth dysplasia results from the interaction between lion genes and tiger womb environment.[citation needed] The tiger produces a hormone that sets the fetal liger on a pattern of growth that does not end throughout its life. The hormonal hypothesis is that the cause of the male liger's growth is its sterility — essentially, the male liger remains in the pre-pubertal growth phase. This is not upheld by behavioural evidence - despite being sterile, many male ligers become sexually mature and mate with females. In addition, female ligers also attain great size, weighing approximately 700 lb (320 kg) and reaching 10 feet (3.05 m) long on average, but are often fertile.

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Vocalisation and behavior
Ligers may exhibit emotional or behavioural conflicts due to their mixed ancestry.

They inherit different or mixed vocabularies (tigers "chuff", lions roar).

They may inherit conflicting behavioural traits from the parent species. Ligers may exhibit conflicts between the social habits of the lion and the solitary habits of the tiger. Their lion heritage wants them to form social groups, but their tiger heritage urges them to be intolerant of company. Opponents of deliberate hybridization say this causes confusion and depression for the animals, especially after sexual maturity. How much of their behaviour is due to conflicting instincts and how much is due to abnormal hormones or the stress of captive conditions is not fully known.

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Colors
Ligers have a tiger-like striping pattern on a lion-like tawny background. In addition they may inherit rosettes from the lion parent (lion cubs are rosetted and some adults retain faint markings). These markings may be black, dark brown or sandy. The background colour may be correspondingly tawny, sandy or golden. In common with tigers, their underparts are paler. The actual pattern and colour depends on which subspecies the parents were and on the way in which the genes interact in the offspring.

White tigers have been crossed with lions to produce "white" (actually pale golden) ligers. In theory white tigers could be crossed with white lions to produce white, very pale or even stripeless ligers. A black liger would require both a melanistic tiger and a melanistic lion as parents. Very few melanistic tigers have ever been recorded, most being due to excessive markings (pseudo-melanism or abundism) rather than true melanism. No reports of black lions have ever been substantiated. The blue or Maltese tiger is now unlikely to exist, making gray or blue ligers an impossibility. It is not impossible for a liger to be white, but it is very rare.

Answer 2

They do. And honest to god, I'm frightened of them. They're elevan feet long, about half a ton, and are the largest hybrid animal carnivore and the largest unnoficial species of the panthera thingy (big cats, followed by the big cat species, followed by the subspecies. For example, Panthera Tigiris Tigiris is a siberian, or amur, tiger. Well, I think it is. Maybe it's a bengal...) But seeing that different to a certain extent, the cubs, liger (male lion, femal tiger) or tions (Male tiger, female lion), are usually born with health problems or just die when they're born. This makes full-grown ligers in zoos rare and even rarer in the wild, because the only place where lions and tigers share the same territory, besides some zoos, is in a small forest in India (yes, there are asian lions) and the fact that both intercross in a small area and that they rarely crossbreed makes it almost certain that there won't be many wild ligers. It's a shame, because they're such amazing animals and are cursed by that fact with unnaturally poor health. Many people believe that purposely breeding lions and tigers is wrong because the pups die so often. But occasionally, in zoos where lions and tigers are in the same exhibet and get along well, liger or tion cubs are accidentally born.

Answer 3

The liger is a cross (a hybrid) between a male lion and a female tiger. It is therefore a member of genus Panthera. A liger looks like a giant lion with diffused stripes. Some male ligers grow sparse manes. Like tigers, but unlike lions, ligers enjoy swimming.

Answer 4

Tiger Hybrids

Answer 5

yes they are the product of a male lion and a female tiger, they cannot reproduce and are limited in growth and die much ealier then either of the others.
Tigons also exist which is the product of a male tiger and a female lion. the genetic factors that limit size do are not controlled by these two sexes of these perspective animals so they get big...they can stand on their hind paws and reach almost 12 or 14 feet or something like that. They two cannot reproduce and they also die at a much younger age also.
I may have the genetics stuff back wards.

Answer 6

Yes, Liger

Answer 7

Lions and tigers and ligers, oh my! Your interest in curious cat hybrids was probably sparked by the film Napoleon Dynamite. Jon Heder, the actor who played Napoleon, studied animation in college and drew his own imaginary liger for the movie.

Answer 8

Yes they do. Check out the links below for pictures and info on where they are. They MAY exist in the wild, but it's not likely, because lion and tiger habitats and habits are different, and most animals look for mates of their own species.

Answer 9

Yes, in captivity since it is quite unlikely to see tigers and lions breeding voluntarily in the wild.

Answer 10

ligers yes