View source for Hinny

{{Short description|Domestic horse–donkey hybrid}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2015}}
{{Hybridbox
|name = Hinny
|image = Old_hinny_in_Oklahoma.jpg
|genus = Equus
|status = DOM
|father = caballus
|father_link = Horse
|mother = asinus
|mother_link = Donkey
|synonyms = 
}}

A '''hinny''' is a [[domestication|domestic]] equine [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]], the offspring of a male [[horse]] (a [[stallion]]) and a female [[donkey]] (a [[Female donkey|jenny]]). It is the [[reciprocal cross]] to the more common [[mule]], which is the product of a male donkey (a [[Male donkey|jack]]) and a female horse (a [[mare]]). The hinny is distinct from the mule both in [[physiology]] and [[personality in animals|temperament]] as a consequence of [[genomic imprinting]] and is also less common.

Many supposed examples of the [[jumart]], which were thought to be a hybrid between a horse and a cow in [[European folklore]], were found to be hinnies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zirkle |first1=Conway |title=The Jumar or Cross between the Horse and the Cow |journal=Isis |date=December 1941 |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=486–506 |doi=10.1086/358602}}</ref>

== Description ==

The hinny is the offspring of a stallion and a jenny or female donkey, and is thus the [[reciprocal cross]] to the more common mule foaled by a jack (male donkey) out of a [[mare]]. Like the mule, the hinny displays [[hybrid vigour]] (heterosis).{{r|cabi|p=36}}

In general terms, in both these hybrids the foreparts and head of the animal are similar to those of the sire, while the hindparts and tail are more similar to those of the dam.{{r|cabi|p=36}} A hinny is generally smaller than a mule, with shorter ears and a lighter head; the tail is tasselled like that of its donkey mother.{{r|cabi|p=37}}

The distinct [[phenotype]]s of the hinny and the mule are partly attributable to genomic imprinting – an element of [[epigenetics|epigenetic inheritance]].<ref name="HunterP">{{Cite journal |pmc = 1866201|year = 2007|last1 = Hunter|first1 = Philip|title = The silence of genes. Is genomic imprinting the software of evolution or just a battleground for gender conflict?|journal = EMBO Reports|volume = 8|issue = 5|pages = 441–443|pmid = 17471258|doi = 10.1038/sj.embor.7400965}}</ref> Hinnies and mules differ in temperament despite sharing [[nuclear genome]]s; this too is believed to be attributable to the action of imprinted genes.<ref name="WangX">{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Xu |last2=Miller |first2=Donald C. |last3=Harman |first3=Rebecca |last4=Antczak |first4=Douglas F. |last5=Clark |first5=Andrew G. |year=2013 |title=Paternally expressed genes predominate in the placenta |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=110 |issue=26 |pages=10705–10710 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1308998110 |pmc=3696791 |pmid=23754418|bibcode=2013PNAS..11010705W |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== Fertility, sterility and rarity ==

According to most reports, hinnies are sterile and are not capable of reproduction.{{r|cabi|p=37}} The male hinny can mate but has testicles that will only produce malformed spermatozoa.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Zong |first1=E. |last2=Fan |first2=G. |title=The variety of sterility and gradual progression to fertility in hybrids of the horse and donkey |journal=Heredity |date=June 1989 |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=393–406 |doi=10.1038/hdy.1989.54 |pmid=2753743 |s2cid=25057091 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The dam of a foal carried to term in [[Henan]], China, in 1981, is variously reported to have been a mule{{r|rong}} or a hinny.{{r|er}}

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{wiktionary}}
<references>
<ref name=cabi>Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.it/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ&hl=en ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{isbn|9781780647944}}.</ref>

<ref name=er>Angus O. McKinnon, Edward L. Squires, Wendy E. Vaala, Dickson D. Varner (editors) (2011). [https://books.google.com/books?id=QPJQT6-g-YMC&pg=PA5557 ''Equine Reproduction''], second edition. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. {{isbn|9781444397635}}.</ref>

<ref name=rong>{{cite journal |last1=Rong |first1=Ruizhang |last2=Cai |first2=Huedi |last3=Yang |first3=Xiuqin |last4=Wei |first4=Jun |date=October 1985 |title=Fertile mule in China and her unusual foal |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=78 |issue=10 |pages=821–25 |doi= 10.1177/014107688507801006|pmc=1289946 |pmid=4045884}}</ref>
</references>

{{equus}}
{{Mammal hybrids}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q217584}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Domesticated animals]]
[[Category:Equid hybrids]]
[[Category:Livestock]]