Just been browsing YouTube and i've witnessed a zoological oddity......... a freakin' Liger (?)
Why is it so HUGE compared to its Tigress mother?
2007-06-19 02:26:24 · 11 answers · asked by Kearney Zzyzwicz 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Growth dysplasia due to genomic imprinting. The explanation is as follows...
Lions live in prides led by several adult males. The lionesses mate with each of those males. Each male wants his offspring to be the ones to survive, but the female's genes want multiple offspring to survive. The father's genes promote size of the offspring to ensure that his offspring out-compete any other offspring in the womb at the same time. Genes from the female inhibit growth to ensure that as many offspring as possible survive and that they all have an equal chance. By contrast, tigers are largely solitary and a female on heat normally only mates with one male. There is no competition for space in the womb so the male tiger's genes do not need to promote larger offspring. There is therefore no need for the female to compensate, so the offspring's growth goes uninhibited. When a male lion mates with a tigress, his genes promote large offspring because lions are adapted to a competitive breeding strategy. The tigress does not inhibit the growth because she is adapted to a non-competitive strategy. Therefore the offspring (liger) grows larger and stronger than either parent because the effects do not cancel each other out. Ligers take several years to reach full adult size.
2007-06-19 02:39:06 · answer #1 · answered by Andy S 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Lions and tigers will stop growing at a certain point after maturity, just like any other animal. Hybrids of the two, ligers and tigons, often display heterosis, which is common in hybrids and means that positive characteristics of both parent breeds are enhanced, leading to increased size and strength.
2007-06-19 02:39:20 · answer #2 · answered by JLynes 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There's some gene that tells the cat when to stop growing, but it comes from the male tiger and the female lion, neither of which was used in creating the liger.
2007-06-19 02:32:08 · answer #3 · answered by 006 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ligers are infertile. i read up on it, it has something to do with a grwth hormone that a male tiger produces. when the male tiger is replaced with the male lion, the hormone is not present so they gorw sort of out of control. cute though arent they?
2007-06-19 04:58:41 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a male tiger does not have limited growth but a female tiger does and a male tiger has limited growth but the female tiger does not so if the male lion and the female tiger have an off spring (Liger) its genes will not carry limited growth, therefore it will grow massive.
2007-06-19 03:31:53 · answer #5 · answered by raju 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the lion is the daddy it is a Liger but if the tiger is the daddy it is a Tigon.
2007-06-19 02:34:00 · answer #6 · answered by Terry G 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Liger isn't really an oddity, well, not anymore.
2007-06-19 02:34:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because crosses between species are not meant to happen, and so the genes get a bit mixed up, so it doesn't stop growing when it should.
2007-06-19 03:14:55 · answer #8 · answered by Kit Fang 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yep and you can get a tigon but have seen it on tv and it's truly a big *****
2007-06-19 02:35:16 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
right
2007-06-19 02:30:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋