Macropod hybrid
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Macropod hybrids are hybrids of animals within the family Macropodidae, which includes kangaroos and wallabies. Several macropod hybrids have been experimentally bred, including:
Male | Female | Result |
---|---|---|
Eastern wallaroo, Osphranter robustus robustus | Red kangaroo, O. rufus | Infertile female* |
Swamp wallaby, Wallabia bicolor | Red-necked wallaby, M. rufogriseus | Sterile male† |
Agile wallaby, M. agilis | Red-necked wallaby, M. rufogriseus | Sterile male† |
Tammar wallaby, M. eugenii | Black-striped wallaby, M. dorsalis | Sterile male† |
Western grey kangaroo, M. fuliginosus | Eastern grey kangaroo, M. giganteus | Sterile male and fertile female |
Red kangaroo, O. rufus‡ | Eastern grey kangaroo, M. giganteus | |
Tammar wallaby, M. eugenii | Parma wallaby, M. parma | |
Tammar wallaby, M. eugenii | Pademelon, Thylogale species |
- * May have been so poorly fertile as to be considered sterile
- † Although the males had testes, they did not produce sperm and some were found to have Y-chromosome abnormalities.
- ‡ In-vitro fertilization used
Some hybrids between similar species have been achieved by housing males of one species and females of the other together to limit the choice of a mate. To create a "natural" macropod hybrid, young animals of one species have been transferred to the pouch of another so as to imprint into them the other species. In-vitro fertilization has also been used and the fertilized egg implanted into a female of either species.[1][unreliable source]
References
[edit]- ^ "Hybrid Marsupials". MessyBeast.com.
- Poole, W. E. (1975). "Reproduction in the Two Species of Grey Kangaroos, Macropus giganteus Shaw and M. fuliginosus (Desmarest): II. Gestation, Parturition and Pouch Life". Australian Journal of Zoology. 23 (3): 333–353. doi:10.1071/ZO9750333.
- Smith, M. J.; Hayman, D. L.; Hope, R. M. (1979). "Observations on the chromosomes and reproductive systems of four macropodine interspecific hybrids". Australian Journal of Zoology. 27 (6): 959–972. doi:10.1071/ZO9790959.