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Ligers and wholphins (R)
Readers’ comments
Maybe they are aggressive because they are 'mixed up'? :-) Seriously, we would only be guessing to posit a biological basis for extra aggression in hybrids. But just as hybrids are often bigger, suggesting more growth hormone (?), perhaps the hybrids also have more of the hormones that promote aggression.
Eugene Y., Malaysia, 16 January 2013
Have you ever considered a centaur, minotaur or other chimera hybrids?
As you say, these mythical creatures would be chimeras, with part of the body fully horse and part fully human, for example. They are not true hybrids where the chromosomes of both species are present in every cell. Chimeras do form, as the article says regarding the 'geep', but not of the mythical kind.
Roland T., Barbados, 16 January 2013
I think we must be a bit more cautious about kinds though. A creator can create things that are extremely similar (and can hybridize) without them having a common root (being created as the same kind).
So for example, Dolphins and Killer Whales could mate and produce living offspring, but have been created at the same time as separate species.
I would take evidence of this from the scripture (don't have it to hand) where God says not to mix different species of livestock (like sheep and goats) in this manner (this was to Israel in the of course, not something wrong across the board).
The Scripture you are thinking of is:
Lev 19:19 "You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material."
There was nothing morally evil about mixing yarns in a garment; it was part of the method that God used to remind the people of their 'ritual purity', their separation from the surrounding pagan nations (Lev. 20:24ff), to preserve the people through whom the messiah would come. This 'wall of separation' between Jew and Gentile was removed in the Cross (Eph. 2:11-18).
But it was also just plain good sense not to mix natural fibres because different fibres (e.g. flax and wool) have different shrinkage when washed, resulting in a rather out-of-shape garment. It would also be just plain dumb to sow a field with two different types of seed (it would be very difficult to harvest). Perhaps also the admonition about breeding of animals had a practical angle too: if you had a cow which had been bred for producing milk, it would be crazy to allow it to breed with ones that were good for producing meat.
The Hebrew translated as "different kind" above (kil'ayim) is not the same as translated "kind" in Genesis 1 (min), further indicating that the created kinds in Genesis are not in mind here.
So, I don't think that this issue of ritual purity for the Israelites in the Mosaic Law has anything to say about the scope of the original created kinds, which creationist biologists since Dr Frank Marsh reckon can be illuminated by looking at the extent of hybridisation possible, because if God created the various kinds to reproduce "after their kind" (Genesis 1), then clearly there were breeding barriers to ensure this. If breeding barriers between two species don't exist, then this is evidence that they belong to the original created kind.
Pat G., United States, 16 January 2013
I used to keep birds in an aviary. I got six roller pigeons from someone, and kept them there. A roller pigeon is a breed of Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) that does somersaults in flight. Mourning doves would get into the aviary; one summer, a female had three broods of two squabs each. At some point, one of the pigeons and one of the mourning doves bred together. I knew this only because I saw the offspring. Unfortunately, I didn't get decent photographs. Since I started doing bird photography, I get emails about birds in various locations. A number of hybrid birds have been reported, including hummingbirds and passerines. I suspect the reason we don't know about more is that we aren't observing them, not because they don't exist. Hybrids among species of cholla (Opuntia sp.) are also quite common. There are dozens of synonyms for Prickly Pear (also Opuntia sp.) Hybridization is exceedingly common.
P. G., United States, 17 January 2013
The Created Cat Kind figure shows some interesting things. One is that some branches of the cat kinds died out before or during the flood. It seems to imply that there could be fossils of types that were not represented in the post flood world. The figure also shows Sabre tooth cats as possibly a different kind from the main cat line. I don't recall (and didn't find during a search) articles explaining why that might be so. I've read a number of Dr. Lightner's articles about baraminology, but that is based on studies of interbreeding of extant species. I wish there were more bible believing scientists, because these are very interesting topics to me.
Note the caption: "Possible history of cats since Creation." (emphasis added)
We don't have any extant sabre-toothed cats to do definitive studies on, hence my caution in putting them as a separate created kind. They might well have been derived from the same created kind as other cats.
david C., United States, 16 January 2013
Other hybrids not mentioned in this article are the Hybrid Stripe Bass, which is a cross between a saltwater striped bass and freshwater white bass. The very aggressive Rock Bass is said to be the result of crossing a Largemouth Black Bass and a Bluegill. Like the Rock Bass, the Hybrid Stripe is also an aggressive sort. Why are these hybrid fish usually extra aggressive?