i have a stupid question...

sorry for wasting anyones time...
if a donkey can mate with a horse and produce a mule, then how come people can't mate with apes and produce...ape men?

 

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Some species are so alike that they can produce sterile offspring such as a mule. These species can be grouped together in what is known as a "kind". Humans unfortunately are the only species of its kind!

 

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I really haven't met an ape that I'd want to fuck, have you!!

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John covered it, but to be even more specific, Horses and Donkeys are close enough to each other to produce offspring. They're offspring, however are not able to reproduce, so horses and Donkeys are considered different species of a kind, instead of different breeds of a species (like we classify dogs).

We can't reproduce with apes, dogs, horses, dolphins, parrots, bees, or bacteria because we are not close enough to them in the structure of our genetics to form a single cell made of the combined componants of both members of a sexual encounter. The sexual cells from each individual aren't similar enough to know that they even could join up.

Now if we *were* able to produce a hybrid ape-man by having sex with apes, then apes and humans would be classified as the same species. if that offspring were not viable (ie not able to reproduce - "sterile"), then we would be different species within the same kind.

however, we are not able to reproduce at all, so we are in different kinds, as well as species. We are in the same Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order and Family, though, because we are both animals, mammels, canines, and something else (I forget the Order classifcation for primates

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)

tHe classification system has a great number of these sorts of questions built into it, it's really a cool setup!

 

Well, I know of some human couples that gave birth to a donkey...

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hmm a while back one of the tabloids claimed that a scientist had successfully created a Man Rabbit or a Mabbit

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He managed to manipulate human and rabbit egg and sperm cells and allowed them to mature and form a zygote apparently, before terminating the thing out of common decency

I'll see if i can find anything on it
I know they published a dodgy artists rendering of it

 

Canines are dogs.

Classifications for humans
There's the current classification of humans. Everything under the superfamily is under debate currently as molecular comparisons between us and other groups get looked at.

 

The problem can be answered if we know the exact structure of the DNA...

 

Never mind donkeys & horses! How about cross breeding a tiger & a Lion to produce a Tiglon or Liger?

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i think that this has been done already...especially in circusses where these animals often live together. So go and live with a monkey. Be micheal jackson.

 

HAHAHA, he's such a freak.

 

Forgive me if i am wrong but i have read articles that have claim that a Mule has been able to reproduce before it is extremely rare and acording to the article it was never reproduced again but this cant be just a freak of nature just that mule are not sterile but simply incompatible so to speak and this one in a million time they were compatable.

 

What are the factors needed to be taken into account for inter-species breeding? Taxonomy is of course important, but what else? Chromosomes? Their amount? The shape of genetic information?

 

I wonder if people could have bred with Neanderthols. Unfortunately our closest relatives are extinct.

 

Don't many plants break your rules for species/genus.

 

Are chimp-human hybrids really impossible?

(Pedantry - Humans are apes. I'll assume you mean Chimpanzees.)

How do you know we can't? I don't think methodical research on the topic could ever be published for ethical reasons.

 

If "kind" is a set of species that can mate1 (defn. produce partial/complete fertile/unfertile offspring), then what is a "subspecies"? My memory could be bad, but I thought some subspecies could mate2 (defn. produce fertile offspring) with each other and some could not?

 

Subspecies are unique genetic populations within a species. For instance, red wolves (engangered) are considered a subspecies, but genetic research has begun to reveal that they may just be a hybridization of a coyote and wolf, or wolf and dog.

Dingos, the Australian wild dog, are a subspecies of canine familiaris (pet dog).

Environmental law can be passed to protect subspecies or unique gene pools, typically ones that have been isolated over time and have begun to display slightly different characteristics than the species.

 

Your second example is the one I grew up with; Basically, similar DNA in same number of chromosomes with corresponding genes (on those chromosomes).

In your first example of subspecies, if/when the "red wolf" is determined to be a fertile hybrid of two different species (two species within a "kind"), then I guess the "red wolf" will end up losing the label of "subspecies" and have it replaced with the label of "hybrid"?

I wonder how hazy that "line" is when a subspecies of a species is no longer a subspecies but rather a hybrid of that species with a (currently) unknown other species.

What is the definition that current taxonomy uses to determine if a "subgroup" is actually a "subspecies"? Is different fur color or pattern sufficient? Different bone structure? Has the modern definition been updated to use DNA differences in its definition? E.g. Could different subspecies of canine familiaris have different number of chromosomes?

What it boils down to, is, "How do I know when I have two different subspecies?"