is it possible to produce something of a cross-breed …by mating a cow with a horse?
since they are about the same type of animal.. kind of closely-related.
No. In order for two different species to be able to interbreed, they must be closely related – usually within the same genus, and at least within the same family. Horses and cattle are not only in different families, but different orders. Horses belong to the family Equidae and order Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates), and cattle belong to the family Bovidae and order Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates). They are far too different to be able to breed. Their full classifications are:
HORSES:
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Subphylum – Vertebrata
Class – Mammalia
Order – Perissodactyla
Family – Equidae
Genus – Equus
Species – caballus
CATTLE:
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Subphylum – Vertebrata
Class – Mammalia
Order – Artiodactyla
Family – Bovidae
Genus – Bos
Species – taurus
BTW, Isobel – sharks are not mammals, they’re fish!
EDIT: Oh, you meant dolphins – that makes more sense then! I should just point out that Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla are orders, not families, and Mammalia is a class, not an order.
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