hybrid animal news stories on Newser

Scientists Find Dozens of New Hybrid Sharks

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:36:49 CST

Shark Week will have some new additions this year: Scientists found the first hybrid sharks in the world—57 of them—off the coast of Australia. The animals are a cross between the Australian blacktip shark and the common blacktip shark, and their existence may show that sharks are adapting...

Arctic Melting May Bring New Beast: Polar-Grizzly

Matt Cantor — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:21:52 CST

Melting arctic sea ice isn’t just threatening polar bears’ lives—it’s threatening their gene pool. The loss of ice means more contact between polar bears and genetically-similar grizzlies, which means cross-breeding, scientists say. Hunters have shot at least two polar-grizzly crosses since 2006, the Independent reports. Other species appear to...

Half Zebra, Half Donkey, All Adorable

RaptorFan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:01:00 CDT

Zebras and donkeys and zedonks, oh my! A wildlife reserve in Georgia is home to the United States' first known zedonk, the offspring of a female donkey and a male zebra. The preserve’s general manager said, “The animals have been running together for more than 40 years, but this is...

Human-Animal Embryos Created

Rob Quinn — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 06:14:08 CDT

In a brave new world breakthrough, British scientists for the first time have created animal-human hybrid embryos, the London Times reports. The nuclei of cow eggs were removed and replaced with ones from a human cell, creating "admixed" embryos—or "cybrids" whose genetic material is 99.9% human. Electricity jolted...

Hybrid Lizards Muscle Out Mom and Dad

Jonas Oransky — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:04:00 CDT

The offspring of California tiger salamanders and barred tiger salamanders are living proof that not all hybrids are mule-style genetic dead ends: They’re breeding their parents out of house and home. In a watershed instance of "hybrid vigor" among animals, Science reports, the progeny of two species for the first...

Brits Approve Experiments on Human-Animal Embryos

Peter Fearon — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:19:57 CDT

Controversial experiments with embryos that are part human, part animal will be approved by a British commission tomorrow, the Guardian reports. Researchers hope to create the hybrid embryos to extract stem cells for use in potential treatments of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and possibly motor neuron problems and spinal cord...

Zebrula Kills at German Zoo

Dustin Lushing — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:36:39 CDT

Perplexed onlookers are flocking to a to a zoo in Germany to see a zebrula—the rare but not unprecedented offspring of a male zebra and a female horse, AFP reports. The animal, named Eclyse, has the head of a zebra, the body of a horse, and a coat split...

Britain OKs Human-Animal Hybrids for Research

Sam Gale Rosen — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:31:00 CDT

The British government has reversed its stance on the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos and will propose allowing scientists to use them as sources of stem cells. Scientists developing treatments for incurable diseases would be allowed to grow the hybrid embryos for no longer than two weeks, and implanting them...