[Sca-cooks] Elk, red deer, tomato, tomahto, doughnut, napkin(was OT OOP Taxonomy)

[Terry Decker]

Whitetail is very definitely a different species far enough removed so
crossbreeding won't work.  In the case of elk and red deer, if they breed
true, then the odds are they are very close subspecies (as opposed to close
species, which generally produce mules), so C. elaphus would be the proper
species.

BTW, the latest Scientific American has an article on coffee.  The side-bar
history may be a little apocryphal, but the article is good and packed with
interesting details like C. arabica (the stuff out of Ethiopia) has 44
chromosomes while other coffee plants have 22 chromosomes, so you can't
crossbreed them and the optimum time to produce a perfect cup of espresso.

Bear


>The web sites I have read say that red deer will breed with elk but not
>with whitetail. At least one advertises breeding stock of pure red
>deer, pure elk, and "everything in between", which suggests the crosses
>are fertile.
>
>So I could still rationalize elk for 12th Night. ;-)
>
>And it's still all Adamantius's fault.
>
>Margaret