Pregnant mules don't survive? Why can't mules pass on their heritage? It's all the fault of the "donkeys and horses"

Why is the fate of the mule, the "love child" of the donkey and the horse, so tragic? Does pregnancy mean death? What is this all about? Why can't mules carry on the family line?

Is it true that a mule can die if it is pregnant?

As early as 2500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, the mule appeared, but at that time, it was not hard-working livestock, but a rare object for the nobles to enjoy.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, mules were still rare because there was no cross-breeding technology at that time, and the appearance of mules was only by chance.

By the Ming Dynasty, people discovered the great hidden value of servitude in mules and began to produce mules by breeding donkeys and horses.

At the same time, other countries also noticed the productivity of mules, and thus the mule gradually went from an ornamental species to major livestock. By 1985, there were nearly 15 million mules in the world.

It is worth noting that there is not just one type of mule, both horses and mules are common in agriculture. They look more like horses, but sound like donkeys, and are the offspring of mares and male donkeys.

There is also a donkey mule. Again, it is the offspring of a female donkey and a male horse. Its appearance is more like a donkey, but its call is like a horse. Although not as durable as a mule, it is good at running.

It can be said that mules have all the advantages of donkeys and horses. Not only do they have good endurance, but they are also mild-tempered. The emphasis is on longevity and good breeding. But there are two sides to everything. A mule this good has a fatal flaw, it cannot have children. What happened? Let's move on to the next.

Did the horse split, or did the donkey cheat? Maybe it was to punish the mule for not being able to reproduce.

If you listened carefully in middle school biology class, you would know that mules cannot have offspring and that the punishment they receive is entirely due to interbreeding.

Although horses and donkeys are both four-legged, long-faced, grass-eating animals, they are not one species. From a genetic point of view, horses have 64 chromosomes, while donkeys have only 62.

Because they have an even number of chromosomes, they can reproduce on their own, but not so with the mule. As a product of a donkey and a horse, a mule has 63 chromosomes and cannot pair up with each other, so naturally, it cannot reproduce properly.

Of course, this is the "general case". In exceptional cases, a female mule can combine with a male horse or donkey, but the probability is quite low, about 1 in 4 billion.

Moreover, even if a female mule succeeds in conceiving, she will hardly give birth to her cubs because the pelvis itself is unable to open and close, which means that they are inherently infertile, hence the folk saying "a mule must die if it becomes pregnant".

Interspecies crossbreeding is not that easy to succeed in. After all, reproductive isolation is not for show. At least it protects the uniqueness of the species. Without reproductive isolation, perhaps a lion, a tiger, or a cat could have been the same ancestor several generations ago.

Also, just because a mule is not capable of reproducing does not mean it has no desire to mate. That's why domestic mules in rural areas are usually castrated before maturity so that they can work better.

But there seems to be more than one misconception about mules, and one that is even more outrageous. Let's look down.

The old man said: "I'd rather die than eat mule meat." What is the scientific basis for this statement?

There are many sayings in life, and most of them have some scientific basis, but "I would rather die than eat mule meat" this sentence lacks scientific basis.

But this misunderstanding has a lot to do with the reproductive problems of mules. We all know that mules can not reproduce offspring, but this is a very terrible thing in the ancient feudal superstition.

Rumors about mules also began, the most common of which were: Mules can not have children, and people can not have children after eating mule meat.

Now think about it, eating meat will kill your fertility. How is that possible? But mule meat is rarely eaten because it's not good.

First of all, mule meat tastes more like Chai, it is said that the stew does not work all afternoon. It is estimated that this has to do with the amount of exercise the mule gets. After all, it was born to work, an overload of workload so that the mule does not have a little fat.

Secondly, mules are not picky eaters at all. Whether it's hay or corn stalks, it's all comers. Long-term rough feeding is also one of the reasons for the poor quality of the meat.

Also, there is a saying that "I'd rather die than eat mule meat", which is called "donkey meat smells good, horse meat smells bad". The smell refers to a unique smell of horse meat, and mules have half the genes of horses, so the natural meat also has this smell.

Finally, mules generally live longer than donkeys and horses. People used to slaughter mules basically because they were too old and lost their labor force, so can their meat not age?

On the other hand, mules are unable to reproduce offspring because they are missing a chromosome. If human technology develops enough to replenish it, will a new species be bred?