Everything about Crossbreed totally explained
A
crossbreed or
crossbred usually refers to an animal with
purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations.
Crossbreeding refers to the process of breeding such an animal, often with the intention of creating offspring that share the traits of both parent lineages, or producing an animal with
hybrid vigor. While crossbreeding is used in livestock breeding to maintain health and viability of the animals, irresponsible crossbreeding can also produce animals of inferior quality or dilute a
purebred gene pool to the point of
extinction of a given
breed of animal.
In general use, the term
hybrid is more often used to refer to plant breeding, such as that of
Maize (corn), whereas
crossbred is more often used to refer to animal breeding.
Crossbreed also is used at times to refer to a domestic animal where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, though the term "mixed breeding" is technically more accurate. The term
outcross is used to describe a type of crossbreeding used within a purebred breed to increase the genetic diversity within the breed, particularly when there's a need to avoid
inbreeding.
Crossbreeds in specific animals
Cattle
In cattle, there are systems of crossbreeding. One is used when the purebred females are particularly adapted to a specific environment, and are crossed with purebred bulls from another environment to produce a generation of superior meat animals.
Sheep
The large number of breeds of sheep, which vary greatly, creates an opportunity for cross breeding to be used to tailor production of lambs to the goal of the individual stockman.
Llamas
Crossbreeds of classic and wooly breeds of llama may not result in the desired type, and "Results are worst when crosses are bred to crosses."
Dogs
In dogs, crossbreeding between two breeds, especially purebred
poodles with other
purebred retrieving breeds, has become very popular, due to the hybrid vigor without any loss of attractiveness of the dog.
The general public sometimes confused the term
crossbred when actually referring to a
mixed-breed dog (also known as a mongrel or mutt), which are less desirable and less valuable than certain planned crossbreeds. In order eliminate confusion and to enhance the marketability of crossbred puppies, breeders of crossbreds sometimes refer to them as "hybrid", reflecting a secondary meaning of hybrid that refers to breeding two different populations within a single species, similar to the terminology used to describe "hybrid corn."
Horses
Crossbreeding in horses is often done with the intent of ultimately creating a new breed of horse. One type of modern crossbreeding in horses is used to create many of the
warmblood breeds. Warmbloods are a type of horse used in the
sport horse disciplines, usually registered in an
open stud book by a
studbook selection procedure that evaluates conformation, pedigree and, in some animals, a training or performance standard. Most warmblood breeds began as a cross of
draft horse breeds on
Thoroughbreds, but have, in some cases, developed over the past century to the point where they're considered to be a true-breeding population and have a
closed stud book. Other types of recognized crossbreeding include that within the
American Quarter Horse, which will register horses with one Thoroughbred parent and one registered Quarter Horse parent in the "Appendix" registry, and allow such animals full breed registration status as Quarter Horses if they meet a certain performance standard. Another well-known crossbred horse is the
Anglo-Arabian, which may be produced by a purebred
Arabian horse crossed on a Thoroughbred, or by various crosses of Anglo-Arabians with other Anglo-Arabians, as long as the ensuing animal never has more than 75% or less than 25% of each breed represented in its pedigree.
Hybrid animals
A
hybrid animal is one with parentage of two separate species, differentiating it from crossbred animals, which have parentage of the same species. Hybrids are usually, but not always, sterile.
One of the most ancient types of hybird animal is the
mule, a cross between a female
horse and a male
donkey or ass. The
liger is a
hybrid cross between a male
lion and female
tiger. The yattle is a cross between a
cow and a
yak. Other crosses include the
tigon (between a female lion and male tiger) and
yakalo (between a yak and
buffalo). The Incas recognized that hybrids of Lama glama (llama) and Lama pacos (alpaca) resulted in a hybrid with none of the advantages of either parent.
At one time it was thought that dogs and wolves were separate species, and the crosses between dogs and wolves were called wolf hybrids. Today wolves and dogs are both recognized as
Canis lupus, but the old term "wolf hybrid" is still used.
Mixed Breeds
A mixed breed animal is defined as having undocumented or unknown parentage, while a crossbreed, as a rule has known, usually
purebred parents of two distinct breeds or varieties. A dog of unknown parentage is often called a
mixed-breed dog, "mutt" or "mongrel." A cat of unknown parentage is often referred to as a
moggy. A horse of unknown bloodlines is a
grade horse.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Crossbreed'.
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