Dumb science question: Can Dogs and Foxes mate?

[Taverner]

I know wolves can...can foxes? And for that matter, what about Coyotes?

[Endangered Specie]

1. Well, there is a VERY scientific way to find out AINT THERE?

Lock a few of each kind in a cage, both sexes... you get the idea.

[Taverner]

2. Yeah but what if they give birth to Welsh Corgies?

Last thing I want is a bunch of Corgies running around my garage.......

[Endangered Specie]

3. I dunno, im just saying...

how do you think they figured out how to make donkeys?... You may discover a very useful animal :) , if not, it might taste great :shrug:

[Sporadicus]

13. Ummm...That's Mules and Hinnies, Not Donkeys

Mules are the hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Hinnies are the hybrid offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. Both mules and hinnies are sterile, as are most hybrids - animal or vegetable. BTW, a donkey and an ass are one and the same animal.

My father and grandfather bred mules for a living before I was born, so I know a thing or two about horses/asses.

[Career Prole]

4. Not unless the fox is really, really

wasted. :)
At sunrise, of course, the dog becomes a coyote. :bounce:

[Fridays Child]

5. From the Internet...

"An unconfirmed female fox-dog hybrid (terrier/fox) has been reported in the UK, unfortunately it was euthanized when the owner died because no suitable home could be found for it. Although gamekeeper folklore claims that Terrier bitches can produce offspring with dog Foxes, there are no authenticated hybrids between domestic dogs and Red Foxes. Most supposed hybrids turn out to be natural variation in the domestic dog."

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:YHhDVZkjoqkJ:members.aol.com/jshartwell/hybrid-mammals.html+fox-dog+hybrid&hl=en

[izzie]

6. Breeds do not cross mate. Think about it. What type animals would we have?

Look at birds and they are the same. Horses and donkeys but mules can not breed. But then if you live in Alaska and have a dog that looks like a poodle they will swear it is half wolf. Every one in Alaska had a half wolf dog, gun and truck when I lived there.

[Don_G]

7. I Dunno About That

Look at Carville and Matlin....

[Sporadicus]

15. Dogs and Wolves are the Same Species

So their offspring are not sterile. All dogs are human modifications of the wolf - products of selective breeding. Pretty remarkable that one species can produce breeds ranging from the chihuaua to the St. Bernard.

[AlGore-08.com]

8. Well, according to google...

Re: Is it possible to cross-breed a dog & fox or coyote?
Date: Mon Jul 30 16:05:04 2001
Posted By: Christopher Carlson, Senior Fellow, Dept. of Molecular Biotechnology
Area of science: Genetics
ID: 996401121.Ge
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message:


Good question, Richard.

The common definition of species is a group of organisms which can
interbreed to produce fertile offspring. What seems simple in theory is actually pretty messy in practice. In practice there are two groups of scientists: lumpers tend to minimize the number of species by minimizing population differences, while splitters tend to maximize the number of species by treating even small differences as species level splits. The lumper/splitter debates are pretty arcane unless you are a birder trying to maximize your life list, or a paleontologist trying to name a new skeleton.

Sometimes the barriers to producing fertile offspring are not physical
(number of chromosomes or body size) but behavioral, as when some bird
species have local variations of their mating call which prevent
interbreeding between subpopulations. If two subpopulations are separated for long enough behaviorally, it is possible that physical barriers will arise and seal the deal.

To put some of the stats we will discuss presently into context, here are the stats for humans vs. the other great apes. Humans diverged from our nearest relatives, the chimps, about 5 million years ago. Humans have 46 chromosomes (2n), while the other great apes have 48, so a genetic barrier between humans and great apes has arisen in this time. In terms of sequence difference, humans are only about 1.2% from chimps, 1.4% from gorillas and 2.4% from orangutans.

In the genus Canis (Dogs, wolves, jackals, and coyotes) the number of
chromosomes is 78 in all known species, so no physical barrier to
interbreeding exists in terms of chromosome segregation. Nonetheless, some rather extreme physical barriers due to size (wolves vs foxes) and behavior (pack vs. solitary) exist, which maintain the separation of species in the wild. As for sequence divergence, the gray wolf (the putative ancestor of domestic dogs) is about 1.8% divergent from dogs, while coyotes are about
4% different, a pretty drastic difference if you keep in mind the numbers from the great apes. It?s intriguing that this large divergence arose in just 15,000 years of domestication, and I?m not sure whether scientists have adequately explained it.

So the question is not really whether species do interbreed, but whether they can interbreed under artificial conditions.

According to Gray (Mammalian Hybrids, a checklist with bibliography, 1954) all species in the genus Canis have been known to hybridize in captivity. I?m reporting this secondhand, as I can?t find Gray locally, but the source seems reputable. Thus, a dog-coyote hybrid is feasible. As for the foxes, they are out at ~8% sequence divergence, and only have 34 chromosomes, so a dog-fox hybrid probably isn?t viable.

As for a general resource on this stuff, I'm not aware of a good one. Sorry.

Chris Carlson

Most of my canine stats come from Vila et al, J Hered 1999:90(1)p71-77

[Taverner]

9. Awesome! I want a Coyotefoxwolfpoodle then!!!!!

Name him Oscar...

[Don_G]

14. You Mean....

This explains ZombyWoof?

[lanparty]

12. Dogs, Coyotes and Wolves

Dogs, Coyotes and wolves are ALL the same species by the breeding rule. Likewise, Dingos are also 100% compatible. The Australian Cattle Dog was bred partially from dingos and early collies.

Like you said, there is some contention on what the definition of species SHOULD be. But I have seen the strangest combinations of dogs.

To me, different breeds of dog are best described as different RACES of Canine.

More info:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread56073/pg3

The photo is probably fake. The geometry of the shadow is not correct. Besides, Neither foxes nor dogs have tails like that. Thats the tail of a BIG CAT!!!!

[livetohike]

23. Here in San Diego County

there is an animal rescue organization that specifically deals with coyote and domestic dog mixes. They used to go to a local Petco with them to put them up for adoption.

[Babel_17]

10. Coydogs

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

"The coyote hybridizes readily with the domestic dog, the offspring being called coydogs."

[Snow]

11. Yeah - Baja California must be like Alaska, except

everyone there owns a half-coyote. No guns or pickups, though.

[izzie]

19. It is odd people believe this. By now we would have one animal.

One bird and one fish. I guess the strong winning out. I never got in fight with these people in Alaska because they all had guns. Some even in their socks. A case of the crazy winning not the strong.

[soothsayer]

16. my friend has a one half coyote half dog, and one half wolf half dog

The wolfdog is great (maybe he's 1/4 only) but that half coyote---wooof, you can really see the wildness in her. She looks much more like a coyote than a dog, too!

[TheWizardOfMudd]

17. Here is what happened when a really drunk and horny tiger mounted . . .

. . . a wild German Shepard.

[smirkymonkey]

18. I tried to mate an Elephant and a Pig once...

ended up producing a monkey with 4 asses. :evilgrin:

[Solly Mack]

20. My doggie tried his best to mate a coyote once

This coyote was coming up to the fence and driving him crazy. Almost every evening, shortly after we'd let our baby out to do his business, the maddening cries of a child deprived of what he most wants would commence. So one evening he digs his way out and begins to broaden his horizons.

We caught the lively couple in action.

On one such night,we heard a gosh awful howl of indignity. Not the normal agonies of a love denied...but the angry cries of another love jilted.

There they were, embraced in a battle of dominance, a male coyote and my darling little adventurer.

Off to the side stood the wild vixen.

We begin to shout and yell. By the time we got to them, the coyote was dead.

The coyotes never came back.

My baby had a few bites...nothing too terribly serious. Vet fixed him right up...and I do mean "fixed" him right up.

But I often wonder if the female became pregnant. I also wonder what a Basinji/Coyote mix would look like.

[jukes]

21. only

if they're consenting adults, of different sexes, & limit themselves to one partner.

but not if they're divorced or refuse to raise the pups as xians.

[LWolf]

22. I've never heard of a fox/dog cross, but

foxes are canines, so it might be possible.

Coyotes cross readily with dogs. I don't know how much may be done on purpose, like wolves, but a bitch in heat will attract coyotes if she is in their range, and is accessible. I lived for many years in a remote area used by <insert your favorite epithet here> people who dumped unwanted dogs. We had packs of feral dogs as well as coyotes.

In the late 70s, a friend of mine was given a coyote/lab cross, who lived domestically for his entire natural life.

[GumboYaYa]

24. Re: dogs/foxes....

It's what's inside that matters.

[BringEmOn]

25. Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett comes to mind.

[Lorien]

26. Coyotes and dogs can

I've known two people with coyotes/dog hybrids, and they were good pets. I don't think dogs and foxes can produce offspring though.