What would the world be like if people were different species,

[raccoon]

sort of like horses, donkeys, zebras, etc?

(I'm sure some SF writer has dealt with this...)

[Chan790]

1. Can I be an ocelot?

I think they're keen.

[raccoon]

3. Well, that isn't exactly what I meant.

I meant like if humans were of different species, but they were all of human intelligence (?).

[TZ]

2. Be a lot less grandchildren

Cross breeding between closely related species like horses and donkeys yields sterile offspring..Mules for example...

[raccoon]

4. LOL... good point. nt

[Chan790]

6. I always found that strange...

why? I mean I know it's true.

Why doesn't it universally apply though? As I noted in another thread...an increasing number of cat breeds are hybridized (Bengals, for example) with no reproductive consequence. How does one near-species pairing create sterile hybrids when another creates fertile hybrids?

Edit: Another example. Dogs can interbreed with wild dogs, coyotes, and wolves. AFAIK none of these resultant hybrids are sterile, though some are self-limited and can only breed with a similar hybrid. Likewise, some intra-species pairs cannot breed at all. (certain breeds of dogs with other breeds of dogs.)

:shrug:

[TZ]

7. I don't think these crossbreed babies aren't sterile....thats why their expensive I think

Ligers are sterile..If they aren't then these cats are probably not truly different species but perhaps subspecies instead...Some of these wild cats really are domestic cats that have just been feral for several generations I think...

[Chan790]

9. hmm...

I'll have to do some research.

[Chan790]

13. I've found parts of an answer...

Many late-branching canids (wolves, coyotes, dingos, dogs, jackals) can inter-breed to produce fertile offspring because they all have 78 chromosomes and are very-closely related. In the case of infertile pairings, the cause is often other biological or chromosomal incompatibilities resulting in miscarriage. (the source is Wikipedia so it's a "take with a grain of salt." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canid_hybrid)

Gender is a factor in hybridization. Male lions with female tigers produce ligers; Female lions with male tigers produce a completely different hybrid: tigons. One is massive, the other is barely larger than a medium-sized dog.

Also, apparently only one sex out of any closely-related hybrid is truly infertile. The other has limited fertility. For example, only male ligers and tigons are sterile. Females are fertile to parent-species with difficulty.

HALDANE'S RULE

Haldane's Rule states that in animal species whose gender is determined by sex chromosomes, when in the first cross offspring of two different animal species, one of the sexes is absent, rare or sterile, that sex is the heterogametic sex. The "heterogametic sex" is the one with two different sex chromosomes (e.g. X and Y); usually the male. The "homogametic sex" has two copies of one type of sex chromosome (e.g. X and X) and is usually the female.

Haldane's Rule for Hybrid Sterility states that a race of animals could diverge enough to be considered separate species, but could still mate to produce healthy hybrid offspring in a normal ratio of males and females. If any of the hybrid offspring were sterile, the sterile offspring would be the heterogametic offspring (males). If the heterogametic offspring was fertile, it produced the normal 50:50 ratio of X and Y sperm.

Haldane's Rule for Hybrid Inviability states that if the divergence between the species became large enough to generate genic differences, but not to prevent mating, then parental gene products may fail to co-operate during development of the embryo, resulting in hybrid inviability (the hybrids are aborted, stillborn or don't survive to maturity). In this case, the male to female ratio of hybrid offspring is skewed with more homogametic offspring while the heterogametic offspring (males) are absent or rare.

Source: http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hybrid-cats.htm. I have no idea of the credentials of the author. However the larger site is very-deep with hybrid content...you might find it interesting reading if the topic is one in biology which intrigues you. There is also a brief discussion of chimeras as a means of creating cures for diseases there as well. http://www.messybeast.com/genetics/hybrid-mammals.html (It's the fourth paragraph under the heading chimeras. This is the same article as the one containing Haldane's Rule.)

[TZ]

15. Hmmm interesting...

I will have to read more about it...Given my knowledge of genetics..(not my strong suit) this does sound like its plausible...

[mainegreen]

5. More war, more death, more racists, more slavery.

The ability to settle down, get married, get busy, and raise kids and grandkids really does wonders to support that 'we are all one' concept.

It's hard to hate the 'enemy' when your grandkids, or your relatives/friends grandkids are half 'enemy'.

:shrug:

[semillama]

8. Do you mean different species of humans

like if H. sapiens hadn't done away with H. neanderthalensis? or do you mean if there were different species with sapiency and societies equivalent to humans?

I could point you towards a couple interesting SF books based on your answers...

[raccoon]

11. I mean different species of humans like if H. sapiens hadn't done away with H. neanderthalensis. nt

[semillama]

16. in that case

I recommend the novel Hominids by Robert Sawyer. It's quite interesting, although I admit I haven't read any of the sequels.

http://www.amazon.com/Hominids-Neanderthal-Parallax-Robert-Sawyer/dp/0765345005/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216389054&sr=8-1

[Orsino]

17. There's your answer.

Directly or indirectly, we did away with the competition. We fight wars over obscure religious doctrine and skin color, and barely tolerate different languages, for cryin' out loud.

If another human species appeared, it'd be us or them, I'm afraid. Fox News and their ilk would quickly brand them terrorists or heretics, or something, and off to war we'd happily go, secure in the slogans installed by our TVs.

[SteppingRazor]

10. At one point, there was.

Modern man briefly coexisted with Neanderthals ... until modern man wiped them out, of course. Using that as our model, it's logical to assume that, were there still more than one species of man, that situation would soon be rectified.

[raccoon]

12. That would be my thought too. nt

[Sequoia]

14. I just watch the original Star Trek for my answer.

[madinmaryland]

18. How about 5 foot tall lizards? That find ginger an aphodisiac!

:shrug:

[LeftinOH]

19. There would only be one by now -countless wars would have made sure of it...n/t