blynx
{{Short description|Hybrid}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2013}}
{{Hybridbox
|name = Blynx
|image = Ernest Ingersoll - lynx rufus & lynx canadensis.png
|genus = Lynx
|species1 = rufus
|link1 = Bobcat
|species2 = canadensis
|link2 = Canada lynx
}}
A blynx is the hybrid offspring of a bobcat and a Canada lynx, two closely related species in the genus Lynx.
Reported bobcat/lynx hybrids
The first evidence of a blynx, based on genetic analysis, was reported from Minnesota.{{cite web |url=http://www.nrri.umn.edu/lynx/information/hybrid.html |title=Lynx-bobcat hybridization |date=2005 |work=Canada Lynx of the Great Lakes Region |publisher=University of Minnesota Duluth |accessdate=4 March 2013 |archive-date=21 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921083525/http://www.nrri.umn.edu/lynx/information/hybrid.html |url-status=dead }}
In August 2003, biologists in Maine captured a blynx and deemed it a sterile fluke of nature.{{cite web |url=http://www.naturealmanac.com/archive/cougar/blynx.html |title=Blynx, the animal |last1=Jung |first1=Jim |date=2003 |publisher=WHTC Nature Almanac |accessdate=4 March 2013}} They released it with a tracking collar to observe its behavior; the collar was placed too tightly, however, and the blynx died of starvation.
Soon after, another reported blynx was seen in Michigan, this one a female with a litter of kittens. This disproved the theory that the blynx was a sterile hybrid like the mule. Another female blynx gave birth in summer 2003 in Maine after being trapped that winter.
Appearance
A blynx is a medium-sized cat, larger than a domestic cat, with ears that lean back and are black at the feathery tips (like its Canada lynx parent). The face more closely resembles that of its bobcat parent, and it may or may not have spots. Like both parents, it has a very short tail, if it has one at all.
References
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