HYBRID SMALL CATS

Domestic cats have been crossed with a wide variety of small wild species of cat e.g. African Wildcat, European Wildcat, Geoffroy's Cat, Jungle Cat, Margay, Fishing Cat, Asian Leopard Cat, Serval, Caracal, Lynx plus unconfirmed reports of hybrids with Pallas's Cat and the Rusty-Spotted Cat. Some of these have been developed into domestic cat breeds by breeding out the wildness, but retaining the colour/pattern and size. Contrary to rumour (and hype from less scrupulous breeders) the Bengal cat is NOT a cat/leopard hybrid; it is a hybrid of domestic cat and Asian Leopard Cat (a small wildcat species). Margay/domestic hybrids were absorbed into the Bengal breeding programme. Because the Margay and Ocelot can be crossed, the ocelot could, in theory, produce hybrids with domestic cats.

F. tigrina, the Tiger Cat (Little Spotted Cat/Oncilla) can interbreed although most offspring are stillborn. An Oncilla was accidentally and successfully bred with Abyssinian cats by Dutch cat specialist Mme Falken-Rohrle. A small cross-breed kitten was born as the result of an Oncilla x Abyssinian mating. Three more cross-breed kittens were bred from a repeat mating. Geoffroy's Cat (F. geoffroyii) have been crossed with domestic cats to produce fertile hybrids called "Safari Cats". Domestic cats have been crossed with the Fishing cat (F viverrina) to produce the "Machbagral" and "Viverral" breeds though infertility is a problem with the F1 hybrid males. The Black-footed cat (F. nigripes) will breed with both domestic cats and F. lybica, fertility of offspring is not recorded. There are unconfirmed reports that the Rusty-Spotted cat (F rubiginosa) interbreeds with domestic cats, but too little is known about this species to be certain. The German naturalist Peter Pallas, who discovered Pallas's Cat (F manul), recorded that it would breed with domestic cats, but this has not been attempted in captivity.

Serval males raised with domestic females will mate them, though the pregnancy is not always successful and human intervention may be necessary to raise the hybrid "Savannah" kittens. The F1 females are fertile, but the male hybrids of the first three or four generations are usually infertile. In 1998, I Kusminych and A Pawlowa reported a caracal/domestic hybrid cat at Moscow Zoo. Servals and caracals are hybridised for the exotic pet market. The Bobcat (F Rufus) is claimed to hybridise with domestic cats and several new breeds were originally claimed to be descended from such hybrids e.g the American Lynx was reputedly a hybrid of Bobcat and domestic Manx (genetic tests have not upheld the claims of bobcat ancestry). There are several reputed Lynx/domestic hybrids, but none confirmed.

Existing wild/domestic hybrids are being further hybridised with each other and with other wild species There are plans to mate domestic females with a male Jaguarundi, but it isn't yet known if the mating will result in offspring.

FELINE HYBRIDS AND KARYOTYPES

A factor influencing fertility of hybrids is the chromosome complement (karyotype). Geoffroy's cat (and the related Tiger Cat/Oncilla and the larger Margay and Ocelot) has 36 chromosomes. The domestic cat and its relatives have 38 chromosomes. The F1 hybrid offspring of the Geoffroy's Cat and a domestic cat have 37 chromosomes - 18 from the Geoffroy's cat parent and 19 from the domestic cat parent. One could reasonably expect these offspring to be infertile. In fact feline hybrids have proven remarkable fertile with most female hybrids being able to breed with either parent species. The male hybrids are less likely to be fertile. Some of the second generation F2 hybrids (i.e. F1 hybrid is back-crossed to the parent species, usually to the domestic cat to create a domestic-type temperament) also have 37 chromosomes while others have a count of 38. This is apparently because the F1 hybrids are heterozygous, and can produces eggs or sperm containing either 19 chromosomes or 18 chromosomes. F1 hybrids tend to be large while F2 and later generations are the same size as domestic cats. By testing for chromosome count, it is theoretically possible to select and breed hybrid cats which consistently have 38 chromosomes (like the wild ancestor) to maintain the size and appearance of the initial hybrid.

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