Can all creatures of the same genus mate?

Question

I know a donkey and a horse can mate and aren't even the same genus (but are the same family) Anyone know?

Answer 1

Yes I know.  The example you use is correct.  Both are in the genius Equus.  Therefore they can breed and produce a hybrid, the mule.

I am a fisheries biologist.  We see Lepomis hybrids often.  The most common is the green sunfish, L. cyannellus, cross with the bluegill, L. macrochirus.

Answer 2

Technically anything with similarly complimentary genitals can mate.  A male dog and a female pig could, in theory, mate.  What keeps the species separate is the ability to recognize each other as mates, be biologically compatible and produce viable offspring able to mate themselves amongs others of the same cross.

Answer 3

Some of our scientists think so, there is now a theory that says 'humans and chimps mated for millions of years'. That is 'gross and disgusting'.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/artic...

Answer 4

They can in some cases (I'm really not sure about all cases). But only members of the same species can produce viable offspring.

A horse and a donkey can mate because they both have 78 chromosomes, but since they are of different genus and species, the offspring (mules) are sterile.

I also know that some species of bats have specially developed s*x organs so that the males from another species can not penetrate a female from another, thus preventing conception. They are all of the same genus though, and have the same number of chromosomes.

I think this is a case by case basis, so I don't think there is any absolute yes or no answer for your question.

Answer 5

TJB did a good job of answering.  In response to our ancestors mating with the ancestors of chimps, it should be noted that they were essentially the same creature at that time.  There is really nothing that unusual about that type of speciation.

Answer 6

Not all creatures from the same genus can mate.  Many times two seperate species are seperate because at one point a group couldn't mate with the other group.  This is almost what defines the seperation of species except it gets confusing with asexual organisms so different methods are used there.

Answer 7

Normally only species can mate and produce a viable offspring.  That is a traditional but not usually current definition of species.  Now they usually include something about availability or if they actually do commonly mate when defining species.

Answer 8

Species (the taxanomic classification below Genus) is usually defined in therms of sexual reproduction and viable offspring.  So a species is that group which cannot mate with another group also defined as a specie).  Genus being a rung up the ladder would usually be UNable to mate and/or produce viable offspring.  Tigers (Panthera tigris) and lions (P. leo) do not breed in the wild, they have produced offspring in captivity but this is artificial.  Horses (Equus caballus) and Donkeys (E. asinus) produce a mule but it is sterile.

So most members of the same genus are unable to breed, won't without human assistance or extreme circumstances, and if they do will not produce fertile offspring.

Answer 9

In theory almost any two animals can mate (cue slap bass), however only two creatures of the same species can mate and produce viable offspring. Mules are universally sterile.

Answer 10

It depends on availability of mates and the organism's  behavioral predisposition.  The real question is whether the creatures would produce a viable offspring.