Motty (11 July – 21 July 1978) was the only proven

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between an

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

and an African elephant. The male calf was born in

Chester Zoo Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately . Chester Zoo is ope ...

, to Asian mother Sheba and African father Jumbolino. He was named after

George Mottershead George Saul Mottershead (12 June 1894 – 5 May 1978) was the founder of Chester Zoo. Early life Mottershead was born in Sale Moor, Manchester. His father Albert Mottershead was a botanist and nurseryman. He had two brothers Stanley Saul and ...

, who founded the Chester Zoo in 1931.

Appearance

Motty's head and ears were morphologically like ''Loxodonta'', while the toenail numbers, with 5 on the front feet and 4 on the hind were that of ''Elephas''. The trunk had a single trunk finger as seen in ''Elephas'' but the trunk length was more similar to ''Loxodonta''. His vertebral column showed an ''Loxodonta'' profile above the shoulders transitioning to the convex hump profile of ''Elephas'' below the shoulders.

Cause of death

Due to being born 6 weeks early, Motty was considered underweight by . Despite intensive human care, Motty died of an umbilical infection 10 days after his birth on 21 July. The

necropsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

revealed death to be due to

necrotizing enterocolitis Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating intestinal disease that affects premature or very low birth weight infants.Gephart S.M., Quinn M. A call to action to fight for equity and end necrotizing enterocolitis disparities. ''Adv. Neonata ...

and '' E. coli''

septicaemia Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

present in both his colon and the umbilical cord.

Preservation

His body was preserved by a private company, and is a mounted specimen at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Other hybrids

There are unconfirmed rumours of three other hybrid elephants born in zoos or circuses; all are said to have been deformed and did not survive. The straight-tusked elephant, an extinct elephant whose closest extant relative is the

African forest elephant The African forest elephant (''Loxodonta cyclotis'') is one of the two living African elephant species. It is native to humid forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species, reaching a should ...

, interbred with the Asian elephant, as recovered DNA has shown. Although the Asian elephant ''Elephas maximus'' and the African elephant ''Loxodonta africana'' belong to different

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

, they share the same number of

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

s, thus making hybridisation possible.

References

External links