Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum

Help Support Aussie Pythons & Snakes Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Sdaji

Almost Legendary
Joined
Jun 28, 2004
Messages
8,968
Reaction score
2,541
Location
Victoria
Thats the major problem here. You have misdefined hybrid.

A hybrid would be a water with a scrubby, a BHP with a childreni, etc, etc.

Not the interbreeding or selective breeding within subspecies. The sooner you realise this, and many others as well, the issue will be much clearer.

"Hybrid", "Interspecific hybrid" and "intergeneric hybrid" are different terms; they are not synonymous. What you are describing is "intergeneric hybrids", that is, hybrids produced by crossing different genera. Interspecific hybrids are crosses between things like Carpets and Scrubbies, or Blotched Blue-tongued Skinks with Common Blue-tongued Skinks. "Hybrid" just means a cross between two things which are different in some way. It is a general term for any hybrid, whether it is a cross between a person with curly hair and a person with straight hair, or a cross between a plant and a human (if someone managed to do such a thing). An albino crossed with a wildtype will give hybrid offspring. Not Interspecific hybrids or intergeneric hybrids, but still hybrids in the true sense of the word. A Diamond Carpet crossed with a Coastal Carpet, according to the currently accepted taxonomy, will produce intersubspecific hybrid offspring.

If you want to say one type of cross is not a hybrid, you have to say which type of hybrid you are refering to. You might say "I don't like hybrids which are interspecific/intersubspecific or greater", which seem to be the most popular two viewpoints, even if the people holding them don't have the vocubulary necessary to explain them. I personally don't like "mild" hybrids (such as intersubspecific) because they muddy things up, but I don't mind "extreme" hybrids as much, because it's more clear what we're dealing with. I'm not sure how popular this ideal is, but my guess is that it is rare. This is too complex for the average reptile keeper to bother with, so I have little doubt that the colloquial usage of the word "hybrid" will continue to be vague and incorrect in herpetocultural circles.

The sooner you realise this, and many others as well, the issue will (probably) be much less clear (to most) ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top