An April Fool's Joke

Old news reports describe a supposed sturgeon-alligator hybrid caught in the Tennessee River in 1839. However, these reports originated with a story published on April 1 in the Nashville, Tennessee, Banner (Apr. 1, 1839, p. ), in which, indeed, the scientific name of the animal is given as Aprilla Jockelum (Latin for "little joke of April"). This did not stop the story from spreading to many other newspapers around the country.

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By the same author: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World, Oxford University Press (2006).


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Human Origins: Are we hybrids?

On the Origins of New Forms of Life

Mammalian Hybrids

Cat-rabbit Hybrids: Fact or fiction?

Famous Biologists

Dog-cow Hybrids

Georges Cuvier: A Biography

Prothero: A Rebuttal

Branches of Biology

Dog-fox Hybrids