Toruk Evolution

[Woodsprite]

I'm sure the toruk and the ikran can still technically breed, though. Different species doesn't necessarily mean they have drastically different DNA. A great dane and a chihuahua can also (surprisingly) breed. There'd be a few mechanical problems, sure, but they aren't so drastically diverse DNA-wise that they couldn't produce offspring. Same exists probably with the toruk and ikran.

[Alyara]

that makes me wonder what a toruk/ikran hybrid would look like

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Woodsprite

I'm sure the toruk and the ikran can still technically breed, though. Different species doesn't necessarily mean they have drastically different DNA. A great dane and a chihuahua can also (surprisingly) breed. There'd be a few mechanical problems, sure, but they aren't so drastically diverse DNA-wise that they couldn't produce offspring. Same exists probably with the toruk and ikran.

It's not that simple.

Dogs are very closely related to each other; they were brought about by humans when humans discovered artificial selection. Animals that are allowed to speciate under normal timeframes (tens of thousands of years for even the smallest visible changes in large populations of verebrates). Also, the mechanical reproduction of mammals and reptiles is very different. I'm not about to write it here in detail, because.....welll......yeah.

Toruk and Ikran were produced by natural selection, much like Geckos and Iguanas. Not only does this drastially reduce the chances of interbreeding being successful genetically, but Geckos and Iguanas cannot interbreed, because it is very difficult mechanically compared to a big dog and a little dog (like I said, the mechanics of reptile reproduction are far different). Combine that with the great difference in size, and it really wouldn't work. Also, most species of reptiles

I think it's also important to bring up that while the act of mating is very similar in all mammals, turtles, crocodiles, lizards, and snakes all have different ways of doing it, and within lizards and snakes there are even more different ways that they do it.

For example, two lizards within the same family, Agamidae, the Chinese Water Dragon and the Bearded Dragon (two lizards commonly kepts as pets) cannot interbreed (iirc). If one looks at Toruk and Ikran, they both have basic similarities that probably resulted from a common ancestor, but they probably are from different families (just an assumption based on appearance, size, and behavior). If many reptiles from the same family cannot interbreed, how would two reptiles from different families interbreed?

I guess it's not truly impossible, but you would need to attempt it in a lab with cell samples. And let not think about how hard it would be to get those samples.