liger, tigon (1924); ti-tigon (1985), li-tigon (1991)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

There's been some press attention paid to Hercules, the "liger" at The
Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS) in Miami.  A
"liger" is the offspring of a lion and tigress, while a "tigon" is the
offspring of a tiger and lioness.  These pages have information on ligers,
tigons, and other hybrids:

http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/ligers.html
http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/tigons.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigon
http://members.aol.com/jshartwell/hybrid-bigcats.html

Rare second-generation hybrids include the "ti-tigon" (offspring of a
tiger and a tigon) and the "li-tigon" (offspring of a lion and a tigon).

OED2 has 1927 for "tigon" and 1938 for "liger" (nothing for the other
hybrids).

-----
Washington Post, Jul 4, 1924, p. 6/5
An adult male "liger," or lion-tiger hybrid, bred at Nawanagar, India, is
now on exhibition in London Zoo, says the Times. The male parent was an
African lion, the female a tigress, and the "liger" (no doubt it would
have been called a "tigon" if the father had been a tiger) is about three
years old.
-----
Los Angeles Times, Sep 26, 1985, p. 1 (Proquest)
The first birth in captivity of a ti-tigon (a tigon is the offspring of a
lion and tiger; and a ti-tigon comes from the mating of a tigon and a
tiger).
-----
Guardian (London), Apr 12, 1991 (Nexis)
The world's first and only litigon has died in Calcutta Zoo. The litigon,
a star attraction for 15 years was the offspring of a rare Indian lion,
and a rarer tigon - the product of a royal Bengal tiger and an African
lioness.
-----


--Ben Zimmer