General Article How hybrids could help save endangered species

Topic Selected: Endangered & Extinct Species Book Volume: 402

How hybrids could help save endangered species

A hybrid of the Turkmen and Iranian wild ass, introduced to Israel in 1968. Lilith Zecherle, Author provided

Lilith Zecherle, Liverpool John Moores University; Hazel Nichols, Swansea University, and Richard Brown, Liverpool John Moores University

What do you get when you cross two distinct lineages of an endangered species? For scientists hoping to revive an extinct population in Israel, the answer was a lucky accident – one that could upend longstanding ideas about how best to preserve biodiversity.

The Asiatic wild ass is a relative of the donkey that, as the name suggests, was never domesticated. This truly wild animal lives in the steppes and deserts of western and central Asia, from the Mediterranean to Mongolia. Because they vary slightly in size and colour (ranging from a pale sand colour to a dark ochre), Asiatic wild asses have been classified into five distinct subspecies: Mongolian, Indian, Iranian, Turkmen, and Syrian. The...

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