[ELI5] why are animals such as mules and hinnies, and liger and tigon, given different names based on which animal was their mother or father?
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Because which one being the father or mother actually affects their biology. Take ligers and tigons for example. Female lions mate with several male lions throughout their lives, so the genes of a male lion are adapted to maximize the growth of his offspring, since his offspring may be required to compete with those of other males produced by the same lioness. The genes of female lions, however, are adapted to cancel or dampen the effects of the growth-maximizing genes of male lions, so lions remain within a given size range. Tigers, on the other hand, have no such competitive mating strategy, and many biologists argue that tigresses do not possess the growth-limiting adaptations of their lioness counterparts. As a result, the influence of the growth-maximizing adaptations provided by male lions is greater, which allows ligers to become larger than their parents. However, for tigons, growth-limiting genes are found in both male tigers and female lions, so their offspring possess an abundance of these genes, which accounts for their smaller size.
the uk public asked to name their nations new multi multi multi million pound arctic explorer decided on boaty mcboatface. It’s a great name. I do not contest, but sometimes it’s just easier if the scientist’s decide to call a liger a liger based on their lineage
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