Isn’t what makes a new species the fact that they can no longer mate with their ancestral species?
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They are the same genus. “Panthera”
That’s the group above family.
So they are genetically close enough to be able to reproduce.
Its the same for animals like mules, that are crossbreeds between horses and donkeys.
However just like mules, they offspring are sterile.
First things first: there is no fully accepted definition of species. Bacteria divide asexually, so classic definitions of species don’t apply to them. As you’ve indicated, hybrids are possible between two organisms we consider separate species.
Lions and tigers are very different, but happen to be relatively close evolutionarily. They have the same number of chromosomes, and those chromosomes happen to code for largely the same functions in both species. It would be like if you combined a recipe for chocolate cake and a recipe for vanilla cake: you might end up with a weird looking and tasting cake, but you’ll likely still end up with an edible product.
Only species that are relatively close genetically can pull this off. Most of the time, the sex chromosomes aren’t close enough to each other to allow the hybrid to reproduce. There are also often medical issues with the hybrid resulting from the mishmash of genetic material it received.
they are close enough in evolutino terms(they sit at the same table ” panthera”) that they can produce offspring but not close enough that said offspring is fertile.
that’s the issue with ligers, yeah they are possible, but they cant reproduce. if they could reproduce, byt the currently accepted definition they would be their own unique species.
its no different from another common crossdbreed, mules: possible but sterile.
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