• Question: is it possible to to create a unicorn after breeding a narwhal and a horse ?

    Asked by scienceismylife to Mike, Tim, Tom on 5 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 5 Jul 2012:

      LOL. Great question!
      I don’t know a great deal about genetics, but I suspect that you wouldn’t be able to create a viable creature from that pairing. Perhaps one of the others has an idea?

    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 5 Jul 2012:

      Where would the wings come from (do unicorns have wings?)

      And would they copulate in the water or on dry land? I guess the whale would have to be the mum, or the horse would struggle to give birth!

      A horse and a Rhino would be a better idea, as they are both odd toed ungulates (and so more similarly related). As Tim alluded to, creating a baby from two species doesn’t happen very often as they really have to be quite similar (ie eveolved the the same thing not so long ago)

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