Ligers, Tigons and Mules are all hybrids which can be found in the wild. Some are more commonly seen than others though.
[quote=“Megatherium”]
the tech would have to advance a ways further and our understanding of genes would also have to increase. but i theorize it could begin with a reptilian base (perhaps a serpent), add wings from the creature of your choosing (i expect birds would be easier than bats), increase size and decorate it with horns, feathers, or scales of your choosing… voila.[/quote]
Now all you need to do is figure out a way to make them shoot las… er, breathe fire 
[quote=“Megatherium”]
the tech would have to advance a ways further and our understanding of genes would also have to increase. but i theorize it could begin with a reptilian base (perhaps a serpent), add wings from the creature of your choosing (i expect birds would be easier than bats), increase size and decorate it with horns, feathers, or scales of your choosing… voila.[/quote]
I imagine the creature would have to be … well simple looking I think. Do you actually think that a light creature like a bird, with is frail hollow bones, lack of muscle could support something heavy like horns. well if the horns were hollow and not strangely sized then I suppose it will work.
For any living creature to fly it needs to have hollow bones and lack of muscle. Any unneeded weight and it cannot flly. Which is why you can knock a humming bird from the sky by using a waterhose, they will not be able to fly for quite some timae afterward because of the weight of water.
Ligers in the wild? Now that is interesting! I will have to look it up.
Although it is understandable that hybrids will have a harder time surviving it out in the wild.
Although what I meant is in the case of a wolphin, I know it is bottlenose dolphin and possible a Orca whale (Although Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family)? That is interesting because Orcas in the wild would not breed with bottlenoses but more than likely eat them. The only animal hybrid that I know in the wild is the gray/humpback whale… although I have never seen a photo of the animal…
sorry, it’s just science fiction for now. i don’t expect armies of chinese fish-men to start storming our beaches at least for the next decade
i have already thought of that problem and many others such as wiring the nerves up so that the creature isn’t paralyzed, making sure all parts are not viewed as foreign objects to keep the immune system from attacking itself, and i’m sure there would be complications of fusing cold blooded and warm blooded creatures.
i don’t pretend to have the answers and i doubt that even the leading researchers would have those answers. but if the technology were to advance and we were to master the understanding of genes, we could theoretically create any creature that we can dream up (or a reasonable facimile).
[quote=“Megatherium”]
sorry, it’s just science fiction for now. i don’t expect armies of chinese fish-men to start storming our beaches at least for the next decade [/quote]