Editing Tiger (section)

=== Hybrids ===
{{further|Felid hybrids|Panthera hybrid}}
Tigers can [[interbreed]] with other ''Panthera'' cats and have done so in captivity. The [[liger]] is the offspring of a female tiger and a male lion and the [[tigon]] the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion.<ref name=Gabryś>{{cite journal |author1=Gabryś, J. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Kij, B. |author3=Kochan, J. |author4=Bugno-Poniewierska, M. |year=2021 |title=Interspecific hybrids of animals-in nature, breeding and science–a review |journal=Annals of Animal Science |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=403–415 |doi=10.2478/aoas-2020-0082 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The lion sire passes on a growth-promoting gene, but the corresponding growth-inhibiting gene from the female tiger is absent, so that ligers grow far larger than either parent species. By contrast, the male tiger does not pass on a growth-promoting gene while the lioness passes on a growth inhibiting gene; hence, tigons are around the same size as their parents.<ref name=imprinting>{{cite web |title=Genomic Imprinting |publisher=Genetic Science Learning Center, Utah.org |access-date=26 August 2018 |url=https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/imprinting/ |archive-date=4 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904215316/https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/EPIGENETICS/imprinting/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Since they often develop life-threatening birth defects and can easily become obese, breeding these hybrids is regarded as unethical.<ref name=Gabryś/>