<Tr> <Td> Genus: </Td> <Td> Panthera </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Species: </Td> <Td> P. leo ♂ × P. tigris ♀ </Td> </Tr> <P> The liger is a hybrid offspring of a male lion (Panthera leo) and a female tiger (Panthera tigris). The liger has parents in the same genus but of different species . The liger is distinct from the similar hybrid tigon, and is the largest of all known extant felines . They enjoy swimming, which is a characteristic of tigers, and are very sociable like lions . Notably, ligers typically grow larger than either parent species, unlike tigons . </P> <P> The history of lion - tiger hybrids dates to at least the early 19th century in India . In 1798, Étienne Geoffroy Saint - Hilaire (1772--1844) made a colour plate of the offspring of a lion and a tiger . The portmanteau "liger" was coined by the 1930s . </P>

Can you cross a lion and a tiger