Dog-sheep Hybrids
Mammalian Hybrids
EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD GENETICS, ΦΒΚ
|
If a ewe gives birth to a dog, the king’s land will revolt.
|
Above and below: The alleged dog-sheep hybrid birthed by a ewe in China in 2011.
It is well known that the sort of mating that would be required to produce dog-sheep hybrids does occur on farms with some regularity. Various YouTube videos document dogs mating with sheep. Indeed, even the Akkadians of ancient Mesopotamia, who lived in the third millennium B.C., knew that dogs and sheep sometimes engage in such activities (Freedman 2017, p. 6). And reports of the actual occurrence of this seemingly distant cross do exist.
Photos are available for one recent alleged case, which supposedly occurred on a sheep farm in China in 2011 (see images on this page). The animal pictured here was found soon after birth on a Chinese sheep farm. The owner, farmer Liu Naiying, claimed that he found it soon after birth with its mother and that she was caring for it while it was still wet. He was amazed to see that it looked so much like a dog, while at the same time being birthed by a sheep and having the fleece of a sheep.
"I was herding the sheep, and saw a sheep licking her newborn lamb on the grassland," Mr Liu said. "When I went up to check, I was shocked because it looked so weird, like a cross between a sheep and a dog. I was a bit frightened, as I've been raising sheep for 20 years and had never seen such a creature." (Read more here)
As usual with other such bizarre putative hybrids, biologists have apparently refused to test it and have instead simply denied the possibility that such a hybrid could exist.
In addition to this recent report, there have been numerous others about crosses of this sort published over the years in American newspapers. (If you know of any other cases, not listed here, please contact the website.)
One such report appeared in The Wyandot Pioneer (Feb. 11, 1859, p. 1, col. 6), a newspaper published in Upper Sandusky, Ohio:
A Veritable Sheep Dog
Mr. Z. P. Posey, who has a farm near Metropolis Illinois, gives us a description of a curious animal which he is raising at present. He writes: "A very fine Merino ewe of mine brought forth, on the first of November, a curious creature which proves to be half dog and half sheep. Its head, eyes, teeth and ears are precisely those of a dog, while the rest of the animal is a sheep. It sucks like other lambs, and follows its mother about, barking like a dog. Its fore part is black as a crow, while its hinder parts are white and woolly like a sheep. Hundreds of people hereabouts have visited my farm to see this curious freak of nature."Another such report appeared in the Washington Standard (Mar. 16, 1888, p. 1, col. 6), a newspaper published in Olympia, Washington:
Oysterville is on Washington’s southern coast.
Later in that same year of 1888, another case was reported in the Springfield Daily Republic (Jul. 12, 1888, p. 2, col. 3), a newspaper published in Springfield, Ohio:
Nature’s Freak
Stoverton, July 12.—A most remarkable freak of nature is reported from the farm of George Sevingle, who lives near this place. He has among a flock of sheep a lamb over two months old, which has the nose and feet of a dog, but is in all other respects a sheep. Instead of having the ordinary teeth of the sheep kind, the animal’s mouth, both upper and lower jaws, is filled with long and sharp wolf-like fangs, rendering it extremely difficult to pick grass like the other sheep. Consequently it prefers to chew and masticate twigs and shrubs. It is regarded as one of the greatest curiosities ever seen in this neighborhood.Another case was reported in The Evening Bulletin (Jun. 2, 1893, p. 1, col. 5), a newspaper published in Maysville, Kentucky:
Half Sheep and Half Dog
Mount Eber, Ky., June 2.—Farmer John Rollins has in his possession a genuine freak of nature that beats all curious things ever seen in this section. It is a lamb with the exact head of a dog and is as black as coal. Its forefeet are those of a dog, while the hind ones are like a sheep’s. It is covered with fine silken hair half way back and the balance is wool.What seems to be a different case that same year is mentioned in the Asheville Daily Citizen, (Jun. 2, 1893, p. 2, col. 2), a newspaper published in Asheville, North Carolina:
The following is from The Adair County News (Feb. 20, 1901, p. 3, col. 4), a newspaper published in Columbia, Kentucky:
A Freak of Nature
That same year, various Australian newspapers published a report about a stillborn dog-sheep hybrid. The following transcript is taken from The McIvor Times (Oct. 17, 1901, p. 2, col. 3), a newspaper published in Heathcote, Victoria:
Lamb Born With Pug Dog’s Head
PRODUCTION RECORD OF AGED EWE
Until this month the ewe had a highly respectable history.
In April, 1943, she produced triplets (2 ewes and 1 ram lamb); February of 1944 saw her the proud mother of a beautiful pair of twins (a ewe and a ram). All were normal.
Now fate has handed the bewildered animal a freak lamb. It was black with a pug dog's head, small ears, but only one eye in the middle of the forehead. The lamb was perfectly formed, but was born dead.
Mrs. French wonders if anyone has seen a similar freak and is waiting for the productive ewe's next effort.
The next report, also from Australia, describes a dog-sheep hybrid in which only one foot was like that of a dog, the remainder of the animal being like a sheep. It appeared in the Barrier Miner (Sep. 28, 1893, p. 2, col. 4), a newspaper published in Broken Hill, New South Wales:
A MONSTROSITY
An early English report about a cyclops dog-sheep (cyclopia is common in hybrids), appeared in the Newcastle Upon Tyne Weekly Courant (Apr. 23, 1831, p. 2):
In addition, various brief mentions of ostensible dog-sheep hybrids have been garnered from old news reports. One is in The Progressive Farmer (Mar. 6, 1894, p. 3, col. 2), published in Winston, North Carolina. It states that a ten-month-old ewe owned by a Mr. A. D. Cowles of Gap Creek, Ashe County, North Carolina, had three normally developed legs, but that "The left fore leg is shorter than the other and has a well formed dog’s foot with claws."
Another is in the Cincinnati Daily Star (Jan. 8, 1878, p. 1, col. 6), a newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio. It simply states that "a lamb with a double jaw and the countenance of a bull-dog" was on display in a local saloon.
Another is a single sentence that appeared on page 8 of the June 14, 1929 issue of the Escanaba Daily Press, a newspaper published in Escanaba, Michigan (and in various other papers around the U.S.) reading, "A lamb with a dog’s head was recently born in England."
Another, originating from the Huntingdon Times, a paper published in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, appeared in the Nashville Union and American (Apr. 5, 1871, p. 1, col. 2), published in Nashville, Tennessee: