Mule

A mule is a animal hybrid of a female horse (a mare) and a male donkey (a jack). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two possible first-generation hybrids between them, the mule is easier to obtain and more common than the hinny, which is the offspring of a female donkey (a jenny) and a male horse (a stallion).

Mule
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Unrecognized taxon (fix):	Equidae
Genus:	Equus
Species:	E. E. africanus asinus x E ferus caballus
Subspecies:	E. E.
Trinomial name
Equus E. africanus asinus x E ferus caballus

A mule is generally sterile. Although it is extremely unlikely for a mule to become pregnant (less than 300 reported cases worldwide), it is possible.

Mules vary widely in size, from small miniature mules under 125 cm (50 in) to large and powerful mules standing up to 180 cm (70 in) at the shoulders. The average weight range is between about .

A mule is generally larger than a donkey and smaller than a horse.  A mule has the long ears, thin limbs, small hooves and the short hair of the donkey, while its height, the shape of the neck and body, and its teeth are more similar to those of the horse. The color of its coat can be any color seen in the horse or in the donkey, which can be white, grey, brown or black.

They are used mostly for pulling carts and transportation. As trucks with four-wheel drive have become common, mules are little used for transport except in places without roads.

Mule Media

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  Painting in the Tomb of Nebamun at Thebes, showing a pair of animals which could be mules or onagers

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  Ancient Greek rhyton in the shape of the head of a mule, made by Brygos, early fifth century BC, Jérôme Carcopino Museum, Aleria, Corsica

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  A 20-mule team in Death Valley, California

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  Mule train fording the Quesnel River, 1868

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  Mule battery in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, 1879–1880

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  British mule train during the Second Anglo-Boer War in South Africa

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  Mule train in British Columbia, 1911