REALLY STUPID question

[sentry]

Can birds crossbreed I mean you never see any mutt birds do you???

[muaythaidm]

couldnt tell you. Why???????????

 

By the way great question :lol:

 

 

[ckdstudent]

Two birds can crossbreed within a species, such as two budgerigars with different colours, you wouldn't get much luck crossbreeding, say, a parrot with a pidgeon though. Even if you could the offspring would be infertile, and probably die the first time it tried to fly.

 

 

[Taikudo-ka]

Interesting point... I think birds are more like monkeys than dogs though... they're generally all different species and genetically incompatible. Humans and gorillas are genetically very close, but not capable of cross-breeding.

 

Dogs, on the other hand, are largely a product of selective human breeding. They all have the same genetic structure, but they've been segregated and forcibly bred for specific appearance, size, etc. But underneath they are all the same species of dog. The "mutt" just represents some vague mix that doesn't match the "accepted" breeds.

 

Humans have much the same charateristic, where the various "races" we can identify are nothing more than cosmetic dressing on the same species. The only reason we don't notice MORE variation in the human race is because no-one is specifically breeding people into freaks

 

With birds that have been bred specifically, like laying hens or types of ducks, you can end up with "mongrels", particularly if they escape into the wild. However, most animals, like birds, won't mate with other birds that seem too different. They're quite "racist" in their views. Dogs (and rabbits) seem an exception - they'll go anything, happily producing mongrels.

 

[ This Message was edited by: Taikudo-ka on 2002-07-21 06:35 ]