if a lion and tiger can breed, then how can you say that people of different ethnicities are not different species because we can interbreed?
2007-07-21 10:58:47 · 7 answers · asked by peepeepoopoo 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Interbreeding of lion and tiger is an artificially driven process....to be separate species u must not naturally interbreed....thus such artificial interbreeding does not violate the rules!
Lion and tigers are also in same continent....india both are found but not in same forest
2007-07-21 11:14:41 · answer #1 · answered by rudra d 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mareeclara is correct. Two individuals are considered the same species if they can interbreed *and* always produce fertile offspring.
Female ligers are often fertile, but male ligers are almost always sterile.
This means that ligers cannot mate with ligers.
Even when a female liger is fertile and mates with a lion or tiger, the resulting offspring itelf is infertile or (as has happened several time) very sickly. Many die of cancer.
So even though they can mate, they can't really pass on genes to future generations. That's why ligers are not considered part of either the lion or the tiger species ... and lions and tigers are considered separate species.
Human ethnic groups have no such problems. All ethnic groups are able to interbreed and produce fully fertile offspring.
2007-07-21 20:10:18 · answer #2 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A true species is two things that can breed together AND produce fertile offspring!!
Like the mule I would say the Liger and Tigon are infertile....
As pointed out, in nature these two animals would NEVER interbreed as they live in different areas etc ...its only because of the zoo/humans have put them together.
The other point is, its that tigers and lions, while related are different species, while we humans all belong to the same species (H.spaiens)...so there are very few genetic differences, but we do have regional variations in things like skin colour ( due to levels of melanin) etc
So you need to understand the biology of the term "species" , need to understand the influence of artificial breeding ( human intervention) and need to pull the head from your rear end!!!
2007-07-21 18:37:12 · answer #3 · answered by mareeclara 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
First of all, let me explain something to you. Taxonomy is not an exact science, and most of the time it largely depends on a particular scientist's view. When it comes to species it is even more delicate. There is not really an agreement about what a species is. So far, we know that if two organisms have the same species (that is the second name on the scientific name), they can interbreed.
However, let's take for example the coydog. The coydog is the result from crossing a dog and a coyote. A dog is Canis familiaris and a coyote is Canis latrans. They have equal number of chromosomes, but then do not have the same scientific name. Does this mean they do not belong to the same species? You might find different answers to this, and to your question.
2007-07-25 15:14:49 · answer #4 · answered by freakdamon 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Plain and simple: ALL people are of the same species. Where did you ever get the idea that different ethnicity means different species?? Absolutely not true.
Lions and tigers interbreeding is a different issue as others have said.
2007-07-21 20:19:37 · answer #5 · answered by Joan H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lions and tigers can interbreed. They don't in nature because they live on different continents.
2007-07-21 18:01:47 · answer #6 · answered by poorcocoboiboi 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
that is because a tiger is a whole different species of a tiger. both animals are in the same genus (panthera) but not in the same species (lion is Panthera leo and tiger is Panthera tigris)
al humans have the same genus and species, Homo sapiens so when two humans of different ethnicites breed they make another homo sapien.
2007-07-21 18:04:51 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋