How does a liger or a tigon come about?
To say that if two animals can interbreed, or interbreed and produce fertile young, then they are the same species is too simplistic an approach. For example, wolves and coyotes can interbreed and even produce fertile offspring, but no-one is suggesting they are the same species because, clearly, they aren’t. They are closely related, both being members of the genus Canis, but are obviously different animals – looks, genetics and behaviour all confirm this. Though we humans attempt to classify things in a clear-cut manner, nature will ultimately take its course regardless of what we think or what restrictions we try to impose upon it. In order for two animals of different species to be able to breed, they must be closely related – usually within the same genus, and at least within the same family. This is the case with lions and tigers – both belong to the cat family, Felidae, and both are members of the genus Panthera (the lion being P. leo and the tiger P. tigris). What this basicall
Ligers and tigons are able to reproduce with one another and are not like mules. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigon The comparative rarity of tigons is attributed to male tigers’ finding the courtship behaviour of a lioness too subtle and thus may miss behavioural cues that signal her willingness to mate. However, lionesses actively solicit mating, so the current rarity of tigons is most likely due to their being less impressive in size than ligers, with a corresponding lesser novelty value. A century ago, tigons were evidently more common than ligers. Gerald Iles, in At Home In The Zoo (1961) was able to obtain three tigons for Manchester’s Belle Vue Zoo, but wrote that he had never seen a liger. A number of tigons are currently being bred in China. The liger, is a hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger (i.e, Panthera leo × Panthera tigris[1]). A liger resembles a tiger with diffused stripes. They are the lar
