What do you think? Gravid or not?

[Alicia]

I wouldn't think you'd have to worry about the carpball 'getting into the breeding pool' won't the hatchlings be sterile like a mule?

Personally, I wouldn't bet on it. Just as a for instance, carpondros have reduced fertility, but are not sterile. Indeed, even mules are not perfectly sterile, with the odd female mule being fertile. Another really good example in mammals are Savannah Cats, in which first generation males are sterile. The females can reproduce, and males become reproductive the further they are from the first couple generations. Savannahs are also a pretty good example, as, unlike mules, angry balls, and super balls, they're hybrids between two different genera. (Like carpalls.)*

Male carpalls may well be sterile, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if a few of the females were reproductive. In fact, I'd be surprised if they weren't.


*Some folks still regard Chondro as a valid genus, so, carpondros might be inter-generic, as well.