A Hinny is a hybrid between a male horse and a jenny donkey. Hinnies are often smaller than mules because donkeys are smaller than horses.
It is debatable whether the difference in size is solely because the donkey is smaller than the horse, or if it is a natural consequence of the reciprocal cross. However, the American Donkey and Mule Society (ADMS) states, “The genetic inheritance of the hinny is exactly the same as the mule.”
Just like mules, hinnies come in several sizes. They can range from as small as 24 inches to American Mammoth Jacks that can be over 60 inches tall. However, aside from size, there are only minor differences between mules and hinnies. (source)
A Cama is a cross between a male camel and a female llama. The first Cama was born on January 14, 1998. This hybrid animal is produced at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai because an adult camel may weigh six times as much as a llama, so mating must be achieved through artificial insemination.
Camas are herbivores, just like their camel fathers. They can drink a lot of water in one go and then survive with little or no water for a long time, just like their camel parent. (source)
A Tigon, a hybrid animal, visually resembles both its lioness mother and tiger father. A male Tigon also has the signature lion mane, though it is shorter and less apparent. They grow up to the size of their parent species and weigh almost 400 pounds, inheriting the lioness’s growth-inhibitory genes.
Tigons, like ligers, are not sterile. In 1943, a Tigon was first successfully mated to a lion at the Munich Hellabrunn Zoo. At India’s Alipore Zoo, a female Tigon was successfully mated to an Asiatic lion to form a rare second-generation hybrid called a Litigon. This Litigon gave birth to seven Litigons during her lifetime, and one of them weighed as much as 800 pounds! (source)
A Zebroid is a cross between a horse, donkey, or any other equine. They have been bred since the 19th century, with Charles Darwin noting several of these hybrid animals in his works. It generally doesn’t matter which zebra species is used. Zebroids do not occur in the wild and are often infertile. They physically resemble their non-zebra parent but have stripes like a zebra.
Zebroids are preferred over zebras because the latter cannot be ridden like horses or donkeys due to their different body shape. However, a Zebroid can often be more temperamental than a purebred horse. (source)
A hybrid between a male lion and a tigress, ligers date back to the early 19th century. They are bred in captivity and enjoy swimming, like their tigress mothers, and are sociable, like their lion fathers.
However, unlike Tigons (male tiger + female lion) that are just about the size of a tigress, ligers are the same size as prehistoric American lions. Most believe that imprinted genes may be the reason behind their gigantic size.
The Guinness Book of World Records has recognized Hercules the Liger as the largest living cat on Earth. Believe it or not, he weighs a whopping 902 pounds! (source)
