Question

What do you understand by outcross?

Answer 1

Animal breeding can be defined as the process by which selective mating of animals is done in order to enhance the traits in future generations or maintain them. Outcross is one of the examples of animal breeding.

Complete answer:
Animal husbandry is the practice by which animals are bred and taken care of and it involves breeding and raising cows, sheeps, buffaloes, etc. Animal breeding is a part of animal husbandry which aims in development of high yielding animals.

Out cross is defined as crossing between different breeds with no common ancestors. It is generally performed between two individuals who do not have common ancestors at least for 4-6 generations. It helps in obtaining progeny with better traits. The main objective of outcrossing is to introduce unrelated genetic material into a breeding line. Outcrossing is said to be the most purposeful animal breeding.

The advantages of out-crossing are as follows
1. It helps to overcome inbreeding depression.
2. In the case of animals that are below average in productivity and growth gets benefited from this type of crossing.
3. It gives a wider genetic pool.

The disadvantages of out-crossing are as follows
1. The outcrossed individuals do not transmit their own type as they possess more varied genetic backgrounds.
2. It is also difficult to predict the bloodlines that will work well as a cross.

Note: Outcrossing should not be confused with outbreeding. Outbreeding is the breeding of unrelated animals. It refers to matings between individuals from different populations, subspecies, or species.