From National Geographic:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/01/half-male-half-female-cardinal-pennsylvania/
A couple in Pennsylvania discovered a bilateral gynandromorphic cardinal in their back yard:
Gynandromorphs, known as “half-siders” among ornithologists, are uncommon but not unheard of. They likely occur across all species of birds, Hooper says, but we’re only likely to notice them in species where the adult males and females look distinct from each other, a trait known as sexual dimorphism.
I was familiar with this occurring in lobsters but didn’t know that this also happened with birds. From the Wikipedia page and the article above, gynandromorphism does occur in many birds species. The article also touches on sex chromosomes for birds being Z and W, as opposed to X and y like humans. I found this very fascinating.
Very cool bird! I have seen a few piebald deer as well as some partially white-feathered crows.
Also seems to happen in butterflies a lot, going by the Google images. And check out the tarantula here .
Very cool! Our natural world has no shortage of wonders.
There you go … my initial thought was your were talking about one of these fellows .
That’s pretty odd. I know snakes tend to have one functional lung because that’s all they can fit, but why only use one ovary?
mbh
February 6, 2019, 10:17pm
7
From Darren Garrison ’s link:
Most female birds have one horn of the uterus (left side) that is functional while the other is small and nonfunctional (makes them lighter for flight). Male birds usually have one long testis that is functional, the right one. Since neither male or female birds (most of them) have external reproductive organs, then a gynandromorph bird where the left half is female and the right half is male might actually have a shot at being fertile. It would all depend on how the hormone battle played out.
I knew there were problems with priests in PA; didn’t know there were weird cardinals as well.
Yeah, I read the thread title as “Hermaphrodite clergy spotted in Pennsylvania.” As if they could take the sex abuse scandal up another notch.
kayaker
February 7, 2019, 12:33pm
10
Avian anatomy and physiology is really cool. Hollow bones, minimalized gonads, an airsac respiratory system, etc all to maximize efficiency with reduced weight.
Evolution sure is smart!
kayaker:
Avian anatomy and physiology is really cool. Hollow bones, minimalized gonads, an airsac respiratory system, etc all to maximize efficiency with reduced weight.
Evolution sure is smart!
Some of those traits predate birdosity .
Ludovic
February 7, 2019, 2:18pm
12
Did you hear about the hermaphrodite dog whose owner decided to sex him as a boy, and found out how to make the cosmetic changes by studying hermaneuticles?
kayaker
February 7, 2019, 2:39pm
13
A buddy of mine would respond that birds are dinosaurs.
Though Herman was not too happy about being studied.
kayaker:
Evolution sure is smart!
Contraire.
I know it’s not exactly a scientifically designed poll, but judging from this article (or at least the photos in it)
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bilateral gynandromorphic cardinals may be more common than you think.
j
