Peccary Hybrids
Family Tayassuidae
Mammalian Hybrids
EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD GENETICS
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Dicotyles tajacu [Collared Peccary | Javelina]
× Tayassu pecari (♀) [White-lipped Peccary] CANHR. CON: southern Mexico to northern Argentina. Numerous hybrids of this type were born at the Zoological Gardens of London during the years between 1864 and 1883 (Flower 1929a, p. 337). G-banding of a male hybrid showed the parental karyotypes are markedly distinct, though the diploid chromosome counts are similar (T. pecari: 2n = 26; D. tajacu: 2n = 30). The D. tajacu Y chromosome was present in the hybrid, which had a diploid count of 2n = 28.
A hybrid described as natural, occurred on a game farm under free-living conditions. In a histological examination of hybrid testes, spermatogenesis was disrupted. Nearly all germ cells were spermatogonia, though a few primary spermatocytes were present. Gross abnormalities in the synaptonemal complex were observed. A few lateral elements showed regular or partially regular synapsis, other lateral elements were synapsed as multivalents, and most axial elements remained unsynapsed. A hybrid showed normal sex drive, as do ordinary mules, but failed to impregnate either D. tajacu or T. pecari females. However, as Andrea et al. (2001) note,
Moreover, in general with mammalian hybrids, female hybrids tend to be more fertile than males, so it may be that female hybrids from this cross would prove to be partially fertile if tested. Amaro and Rocha 1993; Andrea et al. 1997, 2001; Mayer and Wetzel 1987; Oliveira et al. 1996; Rocha 1993; Rocha et al. 1993; Sowls 1984; Zuckerman 1953.
Tayassu pecari [White-lipped Peccary] See: Dicotyles tajacu.
Collared peccaries:By the same author: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World, Oxford University Press (2006).
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