Liger Research
By: Andy Vilayvanh
What Makes This Animal Said To Be The The Strongest Hybrid?
Created How...
The liger is a hybrid cross between a male Panthera lion, and a female Panthera tiger. A liger resembles a giant lion with diffused stripes. While the Siberian tiger is the largest pure sub-species, ligers are the largest cats in the world. A similar hybrid, the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion is called a tigon.
Gene Difference...
Ligers share physical and behavioral qualities of both parent species, forming spots and stripes on a sandy background. It is held that because the lion sire passes on a growth-promoting gene, but the corresponding growth-inhibiting gene from the female lion is absent, ligers grow far larger than either parent. Males have about a 50 percent chance of having a mane, but if they grow one, the mane will be modest, around 50 percent again of a pure lion mane.
Color...
Ligers have a tiger-like striping pattern on a lion-like tawny background. In addition, they may inherit rosettes (rose-like markings or formations, which are found in clusters and patches on the fur) from the lion parent, as lion cubs are rosetted and some adults retain faint markings. These markings may be black, dark brown, or sandy. The background color may be correspondingly tawny, sandy, or golden. In common with tigers, their underparts are pale. The actual pattern and color depends on which subspecies the parents were and on the way in which the genes interact in the offspring.
Works Cited
Cunningham, Paige. "Ligers, Tigons, and Splice: Human-Animal Hybrids ." Bioethics and Human Dignity. Trinity International University , 20 May 2011. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://cbhd.org/content/ligers-tigons-and-splice-human-animal-hybrids >.
"Liger." New World Encyclopedia . Creative Commons Attribution, 4 Jun 2007. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Liger>.
"World's Weirdest: Lions, Tigers and Ligers." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 10 Apr 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/wild/worlds-weirdest/videos/lions-tigers-and-ligers/>.