Can vargr breed with wolves?

[bookwyrm]

What of “mules”? A deliberate hybrid that is infertile.

I could see that as a very rare possibility between Vargr & wolf uplifts, maybe with genetic engineering, like Spock in Star Trek.

 

[MichaelSTee]

What of “mules”? A deliberate hybrid that is infertile.

In the animal we know as “mule”, yes it is deliberate, but could happen by accident. I’ve heard of a lion and a tiger having infertile offspring in a zoo.

 

[MichaelSTee]

So the question would be: What environmental conditions would prevail on the hypothetical isolated transplant-world that are so significant that in a mere 300,000 years variant mutations, or accidental generational gene loss, would arise in significant enough numbers alongside selection pressure to cause non-viability with the parent species after a set number of generations?

Possibly environmental, but more likely subtle changes by Ancients to allow the erectus to survive on a foreign planet. And since we know the Ancients were prone to make changes to produce helper races (Vargr) then those changes might be enough to cause non-viability.

 

[Mustache Man]

What of “mules”? A deliberate hybrid that is infertile.

doesn't have to be deliberate

 

[Mustache Man]

In the animal we know as “mule”, yes it is deliberate, but could happen by accident. I’ve heard of a lion and a tiger having infertile offspring in a zoo.

if it happened in a zoo it's deliberate

 

[whulorigan]

if it happened in a zoo it's deliberate

The case involving the zoo was one in which there was an open environment for the big cats (the Lions and Tigers were potentially able to intermingle) and apparently one of the male Lions took an interest in a female tiger. The zoo staff found out later.

Look up "Liger" on the internet.

Liger: The Biggest Cat [20 Amazing Liger Facts] - Our Planet

Liger is the largest cat that ever lived on Earth (including extinct cats). Even the saber toothed tiger was not that big. Here are 20 amazing liger facts.

ourplnt.com

And Note: Only Male Ligers are infertile (low sperm count); Female Ligers are fertile with both parent species.

 

[Mustache Man]

The case involving the zoo was one in which there was an open environment for the big cats (the Lions and Tigers were potentially able to intermingle) and apparently one of the male Lions took an interest in a female tiger. The zoo staff found out later.

Look up "Liger" on the internet.

Liger: The Biggest Cat [20 Amazing Liger Facts] - Our Planet

Liger is the largest cat that ever lived on Earth (including extinct cats). Even the saber toothed tiger was not that big. Here are 20 amazing liger facts.

ourplnt.com

And Note: Only Male Ligers are infertile (low sperm count); Female Ligers are fertile with both parent species.

Okay

 

[MichaelSTee]

And Note: Only Male Ligers are infertile (low sperm count); Female Ligers are fertile with both parent species.

Interesting. I did not know that. (Should have looked it up first, on this-here InterTubes thingy.)

 

[atpollard]

And Note: Only Male Ligers are infertile (low sperm count); Female Ligers are fertile with both parent species.

... so apply that to Vargr and Wolves and you have an interesting answer to "Can vargr breed with wolves?" for IYTU that has some basis in real biology (how far removed on the evolutionary tree are Lions and Tigers*).

* Lions (Panthera leo) and tigers (Panthera tigris) diverged from a common ancestor roughly 3 to 4 million years ago during the late Pliocene epoch, according to genetic analyses.