mandarin and hybridisation
Hi Michael,
These are the references I remember at the moment, but there were more
Lawton L. Shurtleff and Christopher Savage (1996) The Wood Duck and the Mandarin (The Northern Wood Ducks). University of California Press .
They state they have observed Mandarin-Wood duck pairs, but eggs failed to develop. If I remember all right they state there is a chromosomal difference.
http://www.gamebird.com/refs.html
are looking for a proof of a hybrid x mandarin wood duck, but up to now there seems to be no proof
Gillham, E., and B. Gillham. 1996. Hybrid Ducks: a contribution toward an inventory.
They give some probable hybrid ducklings mandarin x Laysan duck from one brood, I think it was, but these were deformed and died early. They mention some other presumed, but no proven hybrid with mandarin parentage.
On the other hand they mention and document with photographs hybrids of the following species with wood duck:
redcrested pochard
rosybill
pochard
tufted duck
the wigeons
mallard
shoveler
cinnamon teal
and some more I dont remember at the moment
Konrad Lorenz was working on the ancestry of Anatidae based on their ethology and produced lots of hybrids for that, but he never succeeded in any mandarin hybrid, allthough he got wood duck hybrids with some species (i.e. Chestnut teal and mallard).
Part of his hybridisation work is described in the Book:
Warum aber hat das Vieh diesen Schnabel?
It is the published letters of him and another scientist, oskar Heinroth.
Hope that helpsI have mor4e, but not in my head at the moment, have to look it up.
so perhaps I was a bit strict to say mandarin does not produce any hybrids, but at least no one has ever proven a mandarin hybrid up to now.
Joern