Henrix <henrix_at_pp.sbbs.se> wrote:
> What? Sorry, but no. None of these, with the possible exception of
> the wolf, can have fertile offspring with an ordinary dog. The wolf
> is a disputed case, some say that dogs _can_ have fertile offspring
> with them.
The wolf-dog hybrids are so uncontroversial that I've met two. At least some mammalogists go so far as to say, "Dogs are gray wolves." (See http://www.kcdata.com/~wolf2dog/wayne2.htm.) This paper also covers molecular evidence of coyote/wolf hybridization in North America. I have read that the jackal and dog can cross, but can't immediately find a source (nor a refutation).
> Besides, none of these are as small as a housecat. The variation in
> size, excepting some (human controlled) breeds of dog, is not "from
> housecat to jaguar" (RQ2).
Jackal-to-gray wolf is a big range, though.
- --
Carl Fink carlf_at_dm.net
I-Con's Science and Technology Programming
<http://www.iconsf.org/>
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