Have a question that I can't answer.

A friend of mine is rescueing a Dumeril Boa. Not a big deal , I am familiar with them. The guy they are getting him from lost his house and is no longer able to keep him. Anyhow, he is telling them that he was a breeder and that it is possible to breed a dumeril to a red tail. I told them I don't think that is possible, but I said I would ask around, so here it is please don't kill me lol. Can you breed a Dumeril with a red tail?

I wouldn't say it is impossible, especially after some of the strange hybrids that have been created...but I would not consider the product desirable either. In response to the question Can you breed a dumeril with a red tail, I respond: Why would you want to??

Ask NERD they seem to be good at "If It Dont Fit FORCE IT"


M/

That's pretty much who I was thinking about, lol.
Did you see the Wall?

Yeah, It would probably not be pretty...Sounded like the guy they are getting them from was just trying to find new morphs but was going to fail miserably... It is definantly not something I would do...

It's unlikely to work: Boa constrictor has 36 chromosomes, while Acrantophis dumerilii has 34. That difference means any offspring will be infertile, and the roughly 60 million years separating the species makes it unlikely that development has been conserved well enough to yield viable embryos.

There's nothing inherently wrong with hybridization, but this particular pairing is very unlikely to work.

For future reference: Compiled list of reptile chromosome numbers. If two species have different numbers of chromosomes, the hybrids will be infertile. But just because they have the same number doesn't mean that it will work, only that there's one less barrier.

Henry

Originally Posted by Mokele

There's nothing inherently wrong with hybridization, but this particular pairing is very unlikely to work.

That's a point of contention and not a view that is held universally.

Although given your other posts on this and similar subjects, I'd guess you meant it in the abstract sense- applying the morality to the individual performing the action rather than the action itself. Not everyone is capable of making the distinction though and given the inherent likelyhood of contamination...

Well- some people feel pretty strongly that there's something very wrong with hybridization.

I'm curious. How is it that you know it is only infertility that will result from such species crosses? It would seem that nailing down so much, saying it can ONLY be one thing that would be affected, would be hard to support. But, I am not a genetisist and have done no in depth studies.

I'm curious. How is it that you know it is only infertility that will result from such species crosses? It would seem that nailing down so much, saying it can ONLY be one thing that would be affected, would be hard to support

Actually, I didn't say that *only* infertility will result if the chromosome numbers are different, merely that hybrids of parents with different chromosome numbers will necessarily be infertile (due to lack of homolgous chromosome pairing during meiosis). You're correct in stating that a wide number of effects are possible, and that prediction of these effects without detailed knowledge of the animal's genome is impossible. But since the mechanism of infertility in hybrids is known, and chromosome numbers of various species are well known, it's possible to predict a priori that this particular pairing would result in infertile offspring, if any offspring at all.

That's a point of contention and not a view that is held universally. Although given your other posts on this and similar subjects, I'd guess you meant it in the abstract sense- applying the morality to the individual performing the action rather than the action itself. Not everyone is capable of making the distinction though and given the inherent likelyhood of contamination... Well- some people feel pretty strongly that there's something very wrong with hybridization.

Actually, what I mean is that I have seen no arguement based on actual genetics that hybridization is somehow wrong or harmful when between closely related species. Hybrids between distantly-related species can cause trouble, as the developmental pathways have likely diverged somewhat, but between closely related species, there is no a priori reason to conclude that the hybrid will be of poor health (and, in fact, considerable reason to suspect it will be healthier).

An individual's personal views on nature and such may lead them to view hybridization as unethical, but it is important to remember that this view is based on personal opinion and beliefs, not genetics. Many of the objections I've seen rely on misunderstandings or outdated information on genetics, evolution, speciation, and what consitutes a 'species' (which in reality is nowhere near as clean as Mayr's definition). I have no objection to people thinking it's wrong for non-genetic reasons related to their personal philosophies, but in such situations one should always remember that one's own personal views are just that rather that absolute facts.

Henry

Holy cow! I can believe some of you are missing the most obvious point. Dumerils are cannibalistic by nature. You will end up with one dead red tail and possibly a dead Dumeril. Don"t try it. I personally know of someone who did and almost lost a $3000 dh sunglow male in the process!

Griz