Because nature is a weird and wonderful beast, there have been only a handful of full-on animal hybrids.
We're blessed to have such beautiful things as ligers (lion and tiger mix) as well as tigons, wholphins (cross between a bottlenose dolphin and killer whale) and a grolar bear (grizzly/polar bear). Some of these creatures are gorgeous, with people travelling from all over the world to get a glimpse of them.
But people in Russia didn't know whether to swoon or run away when they came across this animal, which kind of looks like a half-bear, half-dog.
Credit: Central European News
It was discovered in Chelyabinsk, in south-central Russia's Chelyabinsk Oblast region, and was taken into an animal shelter. At first glance, it looks like a bear cub, but when it stands on all fours it has the appearance of a dog or wolf.
Animal activist Igor said: "It has a difficult character, actually a little noxious.
"We had a tough time with it, while we were transporting it. The new owner would have to spend a lot of time in order to figure out individual approach to this dog."
Vets reckon it could be a cross between a stray and a chowchow, but they'll have to do a bunch of tests before they confirm what the hell it is. But it would be pretty awesome if it was a mix between a dog and a bear.
Credit: Central European News
That would be a much more bizarre pairing than other hybrids, which usually occur in species that are kind of similar. Most people don't bat an eyelid at the idea of a mule (a cross between a female horse and a male donkey) because they've been around for a while. But you might look twice when seeing a zorse or zonkey - which is exactly what it sounds like.
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(That's right, zebras.)
When you think of animal hybrids, there's a chance you're picturing a mad scientist's weird creation in a laboratory, but they actually occur naturally all the time. Unfortunately for these offshoot species, the majority of them are born sterile because their chromosomes don't match up and that's why we don't have a huge linage of hybrid species.
It's actually pretty difficult to pull this off because different animals obviously have different times of fertility, mating behaviours and cues. The same happens when plant hybrids happen, as they will also have differences in flowering times, pollen vectors, inhibition of pollen tube growth and structure of their chromosomes.
Looks like we'll have to wait and see whether this bear-dog is legit.
Featured Image Credit: Central European NewsTopics: Dog, World News, Weird, Animals, Bear