Hinny
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2015) |
| Hinny | |
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Domesticated
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Scientific classification
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Tribe: | Equini |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Species: | |
| Synonyms | |
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Ahinnyis adomesticequinehybrid,the offspring of a malehorse(astallion) and a femaledonkey(a jenny). It is thereciprocal crossto the more commonmule,which is the product of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (amare). The hinny is distinct from the mule both inphysiologyandtemperamentas a consequence ofgenomic imprintingand is also less common.
Description
[edit]The hinny is the offspring of a stallion and a jenny or female donkey, and is thus thereciprocal crossto the more common mule foaled by a jack (male donkey) out of amare.Like the mule, the hinny displayshybrid vigour(heterosis).[1]: 36
In general terms, in both these hybrids the foreparts and head of the animal are similar to those of the sire, while the hindparts and tail are more similar to those of the dam.[1]: 36 A hinny is generally smaller than a mule, with shorter ears and a lighter head; the tail is tasselled like that of its donkey mother.[1]: 37
The distinctphenotypesof the hinny and the mule are partly attributable to genomic imprinting – an element ofepigenetic inheritance.[2]Hinnies and mules differ in temperament despite sharingnuclear genomes;this too is believed to be attributable to the action of imprinted genes.[3]
Fertility, sterility and rarity
[edit]According to most reports, hinnies are sterile and are not capable of reproduction.[1]: 37 The male hinny can mate, but has testicles that will only produce malformed spermatozoa.[4]The dam of a foal carried to term inHenan Provinceof China in 1981 is variously reported to have been a mule[5]or a hinny.[6]
References
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- ^abcdValerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016).Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding(sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI.ISBN9781780647944.
- ^Hunter, Philip (2007)."The silence of genes. Is genomic imprinting the software of evolution or just a battleground for gender conflict?".EMBO Reports.8(5): 441–443.doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400965.PMC1866201.PMID17471258.
- ^Wang, Xu; Miller, Donald C.; Harman, Rebecca; Antczak, Douglas F.; Clark, Andrew G. (2013)."Paternally expressed genes predominate in the placenta".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.110(26): 10705–10710.Bibcode:2013PNAS..11010705W.doi:10.1073/pnas.1308998110.PMC3696791.PMID23754418.
- ^Zong, E; Fan, G (June 1989)."The variety of sterility and gradual progression to fertility in hybrids of the horse and donkey".Heredity.62(3): 393–406.doi:10.1038/hdy.1989.54.PMID2753743.S2CID25057091.
- ^Rong, Ruizhang; Cai, Huedi; Yang, Xiuqin; Wei, Jun (October 1985)."Fertile mule in China and her unusual foal".Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.78(10): 821–25.doi:10.1177/014107688507801006.PMC1289946.PMID4045884.
- ^Angus O. McKinnon, Edward L. Squires, Wendy E. Vaala, Dickson D. Varner (editors) (2011).Equine Reproduction,second edition. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.ISBN9781444397635.
