Two shark species mate in waters off Australia 57 hybrids found by researchers Nothing to do with Toyota!! World's first hybrid shark is found off Australia - and interbreeding could make them stronger | Mail Online
I suspect interbreeding is happening a lot more often in the wild than we think. When it does, it mostly results in non-viable, or sterile offspring. But sometimes they make it. The freshwater sunfishes in North America have been cross breeding for awhile now. The shark species here are the Australian black tip and the global black tip. Most people probably couldn't tell them apart. Experts probably argue over whether they seperate species or just subspecies. The point is that it's more of a dog and wolf crossing than what the terms in the headline imply. They interesting question is why has it happened? In the case of the sunfish, generations of pollution and environmental damage have left their home waters murky. Making it harder for the fish to spot the color patterns that allowed for species identification. The article refers to warming waters, which may the cause of one or both populations shifting, and interacting with each other more often.
Yeah, I saw this article yesterday, and knew that somehow it would end up on Prius Chat. Why do I think it is somehow going to end up being a really bad made for Sci-Fi Channel movie?
I blame television and the fad that interracial shark dating is now cool, instead of taboo as it was in the 50s. Why did neanerthals breed with cro-magnum. Because they could. But it was bad and shameful so they hid the facts But now like these sharks we have genetic evidence that someone got their grove on. Was it warming:rockon: Or simply the proximities of population? We don't know. You say that as if [ame="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459392/"]SharkMan (TV 2005) - IMDb@@AMEPARAM@@http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ0OTk0Nzg3MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjY3ODc0MQ@@._V1._SX100_SY135_.jpg@@AMEPARAM@@BMTQ0OTk0Nzg3MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjY3ODc0MQ@@@@AMEPARAM@@SX100@@AMEPARAM@@SY135[/ame] they haven't already made the mutant shark movies.
Maybe because there's no such thing as a good made-for-Sci-Fi-Channel movie. Anyway, while I'm sure the shark thing has academic interest, cross-species mating is fairly common. That's how they get mules. And the ick factor notwithstanding, there are enough people interested in having sex with sheep that there's a whole enormous thread about it in Fred's. And porn sites dedicated to human-animal sex. Other various animals will attempt to mate with each other. I believe it is a minority behavior, but one that persists and has probably been around ever since sexual reproduction first emerged. Anyway, sharks are cool. It's always a treat to see one while diving. Kinda scary, but really cool.
...for Sci-Fi version, researchers mate a shark with a moray eel to create true electric hybrid, and one mean shark!
