How Are Mules Produced? A Detailed Explanation of Their Lifespan, the Reasons for Their Infertility, and the Differences Between Horses and Donkeys

The mule is an animal of the class Mammalia and the order Perissodactyla. It looks like a horse, brays like a donkey, has a sturdy constitution, strong limbs and hooves, and great endurance. It is often used to pull carts and carry loads, and its working value is higher than that of both horses and donkeys, but it simply cannot reproduce. So, do you know how the mule came to be? Why can't it reproduce? How many years can it live? How do you tell it apart from a horse and a donkey?

1. How are mules produced?

The mule is an interspecific hybrid of the horse and the donkey. The hybrid born from a male donkey and a female horse is a horse mule, and the hybrid born from a male horse and a female donkey is a donkey mule. Because the genes of the male donkey and the female horse combine more easily, most mules are crossbred this way. Horse mules and donkey mules are similar in appearance but easy to distinguish: the donkey mule resembles the donkey, and the horse mule resembles the horse. The donkey mule's ears are slightly longer while the horse mule's are slightly shorter; the donkey mule's tail is slightly shorter while the horse mule's is slightly longer. The horse mule is incredibly strong, and the donkey mule is good at running. The donkey mule not only has great endurance and considerable strength, but also an average appetite and a gentle yet stubborn temperament, and can be used for about 30 years; the horse mule has very strong endurance, great strength, a relatively large appetite, and an impatient temperament, and can be used for about 20 years.

2. Why can't mules reproduce?

Although mules come in male and female, neither can reproduce. The reason is that their chromosomes do not come in pairs. In any normal organism, chromosomes exist in pairs, one from the mother and the other from the father. The horse has 32 pairs of chromosomes, and the donkey has 31 pairs of chromosomes. The chromosomes of the hybrid mule add up to 32+31, leaving one chromosome unpaired, so it cannot pair up to reproduce. However, in extremely rare cases a female mule may produce offspring after mating with a horse or after mating with a donkey. A mule mating with a mule alone can never produce offspring.

3. How many years can a mule live?

The mule has a relatively long lifespan, generally living to about 35 years, and with good feeding and management it can reach 50 years. If kept as a pet, it can accompany a person for almost a lifetime; if kept for labor, its working period can reach 20 years.

4. How do you tell a horse, a donkey, and a mule apart?

1. Distinguishing by family and genus: The horse is a herbivorous animal of the order Perissodactyla, the family Equidae, and the genus Equus; the donkey is an animal of the order Perissodactyla, the family Equidae, and the genus Equus; the mule is an interspecific hybrid of the horse and the donkey of the order Perissodactyla and the family Equidae.

2. Distinguishing by appearance: The horse has the smallest ears, the mule's are in between, and the donkey's ears are long; the horse's tail is long and thick, followed by the mule, and finally the donkey; the horse's front half is slightly taller than its rear half, the mule is basically the same height front and back, and the donkey is the smallest in size with a thin tail; the horse's mane is very long and falls to one side like grass on a wall, the mule's is much shorter, and the donkey's is very short and does not fall over; the donkey is black or gray, a color rarely seen in horses and mules.

3. Distinguishing by temperament: Horses and mules only snort, while donkeys bray on and on; the horse has a relatively gentle temper, the donkey's temper is a bit irritable, and the mule falls in between; both horses and mules can be ridden, but donkeys cannot; a horse can find its own way home when let loose, a donkey runs off the moment it is let loose, and the mule falls in between.

4. Working value: Both horses and donkeys can reproduce, and crossing the two can produce a mule, but a mule and a mule cannot reproduce; the mule is strong, tolerant of coarse feed and hard work, has strong vitality and disease resistance, lives longer than both horses and donkeys, can be used for as long as 20 to 30 years, and has a higher working value than both horses and donkeys.