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GloFish -

GloFish are a purely commercial invention, meant to delight collectors of exotic fish. Glowfish have been genetically engineered with a naturally fluorescent gene found in other marine life that is easily passed down through generations of GloFish. Many different colors are available, from "starfire red" to "galactic purple."

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Supercows -

Seen as a boon to some and an immoral abomination to others, Belgian supercows are massive cows that have gone through selective breeding techniques since farmers first cross-bred native Belgian cattle with short-horn cows in the 1800s. The result today is a hulking breed of cow that dwarfs any normal bull.

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Enviropigs -

Enviropigs (not pictured) are a genetically modified pig created by scientists at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, with a good cause in mind. What makes Enviropigs different from other pigs is that they have been engineered to excrete up to 70% less phosphorous in its feces. Phosphorous in large amounts creates extremely damaging runoffs into lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water, especially those near farms.

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Spider goats -

Certainly one of the strangest genetically modified animals out there started with one single goat, named Freckles (not pictured), who has just a bit of spider DNA in her. She doesn't have eight legs or eight eyes, but she does produce spider silk in her milk, and the silk happens to be much stronger than normal spider silk.

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Ligers -

Perhaps the most famous of all hybrid animals is the gigantic liger. As its name suggests, the liger is a cross between a male lion and a female tiger. It's only 'natural' that mixing together two of the largest cat species in the world would give you the largest cat species in the world.

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Camas -

Only five of these adorable camel-llama mixes were ever created, via artificial insemination. Bred primarily for what scientists hoped would be a superbly high-quality coat, and also as an efficient pack animal, the animals haven't had very much success breeding on their own and have become notorious for their poor temperaments.

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Glow-in-the-dark beagles -

In 2009, South Korean scientists cloned a litter of beagle puppies all named Ruppy (none pictured), a combination of "ruby" and "puppy." What makes them so special? These "ruppies" have a fluorescent gene incorporated into their DNA that makes them glow bright red under ultraviolet light.

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Transparent frogs -

While some translucent frogs exist in the wild, the first truly transparent frogs were developed by scientists in Japan so that they could study the insides of frogs without having to dissect them.

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Featherless chickens -

At the turn of the 21st century, scientists in Jerusalem bred common chickens with naked neck chickens, until they developed an entirely new breed: the featherless chicken, which is exactly that, completely featherless. The idea was to improve poultry production in warmer climates, but as it turns out, featherless chickens have a severely lower quality of life than feathered chickens.

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Pig-human hybrids -

A highly controversial but undeniably life-saving experiment was conducted in 2017 that successfully incorporated human cells into pig tissue. To make a long and complicated explanation short, this successful experiment paved the way for growing human organs within other animals, and was an important step towards addressing the tragic and perpetual shortage of life-saving organs for the millions of people waiting on transplant lists around the world.

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Human-rat hybrids -

A similar experiment was conducted two years later, where scientists implanted human material (pictured) into rats and were able to grow working organs in (and on) living rats. These studies were again highly controversial both in the scientific community and the general public, but research has continued on and may very well save lives in the future.

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Grolar bears -

Grolar bears are a hybrid of grizzly bears and polar bears, also sometimes called prizzly bears. While slightly smaller than polar bears and acclimated to warmer climates, they are usually larger than the average grizzly.

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Hinnies -

Hinnies are the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey, and are usually a bit smaller than most donkeys. Due to genomic imprinting, most hinnies inherit the strength and energy of their horse fathers. Similar to mules, hinnies are born sterile and cannot reproduce.

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Żubrońs -

Żubrońs, hybrids between common cattle and European bison, were once a promising alternative to, precisely, common cattle. Larger and able to produce more meat, they are also more resistant to diseases that could possibly decimate cattle populations. Unfortunately, they aren't the best breeders, and today only one protected herd exists in Poland's Białowieża National Park.

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Zorses -

This one is pretty easy to guess. A zorse is a cross between a zebra and any breed of horse. Almost all zorses inherit the characteristic stripes from the zebra parent, while assuming the general size and shape of their horse parent.

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Beefalos -

Beefalo, despite being given a name that is in arguably bad taste, have had positive effects on agriculture and the environment as a whole. A mix between a buffalo and a cow, the beefalo grazes far less than the average cow, which is good news for the health of cattle pastures around the world.

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Jaglions -

The jaglion (not pictured) is exactly what it sounds like: a cross between a jaguar and a lion. Jaglions tend to keep the spotted patterns characteristic of jaguars, but grow much larger and have faces more reminiscent of a lion.

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Savannah cats -

One of the most popular, and most expensive, breeds of domestic cats in the world is the tall and elegant savannah cat. Crossbred between wild serval cats and domestic cats, savannahs are known to act quite differently from your average house cat. Savannahs are filled with energy, enjoy games of fetch, and love a good swim.

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Litigons -

Litigons are second-generation hybrid animals bred between a female tigon (offspring of a male tiger and a female lion) and a male Asiatic lion. While not quite as big as ligers, litigons can grow to pretty impressive sizes.

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Zonkeys -

Another zebra hybrid, the zonkey is an adorable cross between a zebra and a donkey. Less aggressive than a purebred zebra, and with the speed of a zebra and stamina of a donkey, zonkeys make for efficient work animals.

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Wholphins -

Although the name might suggest that wolphins (pictured left) are a cross between a whale and a dolphin, that's not exactly the case. Instead, they are a mix between bottlenose dolphins and false killer whales, a large species of dolphin with a darker complexion than most other dolphins.

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Geeps -

The geep is, you guessed it, a cross between a goat and a sheep. Geep are extremely rare, as most geep calves are stillborn. But every once in a while they are born healthy and live happy lives.

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Coywolves -

Coyotes and wolves are genetically very similar, and crossbreeding is largely successful in most cases. They are usually sized right in the middle of their parents' size.

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Narlugas -

The narluga (not pictured) are an incredibly rare hybrid species of a male beluga whale and a female narwhal. Despite sharing Arctic territories and being genetically very similar, crossbreeding between the two species is exceedingly rare and it took years of DNA research to prove they existed at all.

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Dzos -

The dzo is a popular farm and work animal in the highlands of Tibet and Mongolia. A cross between a common cow and a yak, the dzo is bigger than both of its progenitors and produces significantly more milk and meat, making them highly valuable in their home regions.

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Mulards -

To most of us, there's not much difference between mallards and other ducks, but they are in fact genetically different. When the two species mate, what you get is a mulard. Mainly raised in France for their meat, mulards mature quickly but are unable to reproduce.

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Green sea slugs -

One of the most fascinating animal hybrids in the world, the green sea slug incorporates genetic data from the algae it eats into its own DNA. The result is a plant-animal hybrid that is, believe it or not, an animal capable of photosynthesis, just like a plant.

Sources: (Bored Panda) (National Geographic) (Myce)

See also: Amazing animals under threat of extinction

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