PoliticalMilkman t1_j9fd8gs wrote on February 21, 2023 at 2:59 PM Reply to comment by [deleted] in TIL that ligers (the offspring of a male lion and female tiger) are the largest big cat because, unlike lionesses, female tigers do not possess growth-limiting genes to counter the growth-maximising genes of male lions. by argh-ok No. Though that is an easy rule that works a lot of the time, it’s not a hard rule. Canids, for example, are very good at interspecies breeding and produce viable, non-sterile offspring. Permalink Parent 7
PoliticalMilkman t1_j9fd8gs wrote
Reply to comment by [deleted] in TIL that ligers (the offspring of a male lion and female tiger) are the largest big cat because, unlike lionesses, female tigers do not possess growth-limiting genes to counter the growth-maximising genes of male lions. by argh-ok
No. Though that is an easy rule that works a lot of the time, it’s not a hard rule. Canids, for example, are very good at interspecies breeding and produce viable, non-sterile offspring.