Firstly, gonna answer this question: "Is it okay to call an F2 hybrid a 50/50 cross?" In this scenario it depends on whether or not the term 50/50 is correct. If the animal is the result of a F1 X F1 breeding then yes, you could accurately represent the animal as an "F2 50/50 intergrade". You aren't necessarily in this example saying that the animal indeed contains exactly 50% from each parent species, but that roughly 50% of its' genetic material is derived from each parent species. As long as it the "F2" is thrown in there, that should clear up any mistakes about the true genetic makeup of the animal. Remember, during the F1 and resulting F2 crosses you cannot(theoretically) result in 100% genetic material from only one parent species, the intergrade will be limited to within the boundaries (AKA 1%-99%) for either parent species.



So I guess the real answer to your questions is this, it is only a useful tool calling any intergrade "50/50" or "75/25", or whatever else, it doesn't mean the animal is exactly that, it is just part of the labeling to understand what ancestry you are dealing with.



Another thing I'd like to point out real quick before my lunch break is done is that in an F1 cross, the true percentage for each parent species genetic material is never exactly 50/50, you have to take into account common genes/alleles between the two, be able to differentiate between what does not occur in one over the other to even be able to come close to defining that, and this is something that isn't even able to be realized nowadays, which is why we just define them as F1 50/50 intergrades, F2 75/25, or F2 50/50.



Hope this helps,

Dan

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