Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist • Hacker News Board

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#11

Post by CWuestefeld » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:17 PM UTC

asylteltine wrote: post #5

Which we can all agree is both cool and a biological anomaly… much like it can happen in humans.

You should probably read the article first, before jumping into politics:

“This particular example of bilateral gynandromorphy – male one side and female the other – shows that, as in several other species, either side of the bird can be male or female.

“The phenomenon arises from an error during female cell division to produce an egg, followed by double-fertilization by two sperm,” he explains.

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#12

Post by CWuestefeld » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:18 PM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #3

I thought they meant hermaphrodite but then saw the picture. They mean luterally half, right down the middle.

It seems like a lot of people want to jump in and start making political points, before taking time to read the article.

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#13

Post by networkchad » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:19 PM UTC

asylteltine wrote: post #5

Which we can all agree is both cool and a biological anomaly… much like it can happen in humans.

[dead]

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#14

Post by HarHarVeryFunny » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:21 PM UTC

asylteltine wrote: post #5

Which we can all agree is both cool and a biological anomaly… much like it can happen in humans.

I'm not sure if it could happen in humans, but apparently it has never been observed. This phenomena is called bilateral gynandromorphism and is where the entire body shows both male and female traits (along a bilateral split). You're probably thinking of hermaphrodites (e.g. she-males) which is where the animal only has reproductive organs of both sexes.

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#15

Post by philk10 » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:25 PM UTC

There was also a Cardinal like this in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56189600

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#16

Post by rsynnott » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:30 PM UTC

asylteltine wrote: post #5

Which we can all agree is both cool and a biological anomaly… much like it can happen in humans.

I don't think there's any known example of bilateral chimerism in humans? Hermaphroditism is humans (and for that matter, in birds; the above is a really unusual case) works completely differently.

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#17

Post by tromp » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:31 PM UTC

> captured on film

The article makes no further mentions of actual film, so presumably the phrase now also applies to digital photography?!

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#18

Post by rsynnott » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:32 PM UTC

tromp wrote: post #17

> captured on film The article makes no further mentions of actual film, so presumably the phrase now also applies to digital photography?!

Yep; English tends to hold onto these archaic references. People also still talk about getting things on tape etc.

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#19

Post by blueflow » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:34 PM UTC

saalweachter wrote: post #7

blueflow wrote: post #2

half female, half male phenotype .

? > “The phenomenon arises from an error during female cell division to produce an egg, followed by double-fertilization by two sperm,” he explains. The bird is a chimera, with a different genome on each side of its body, one male (ZZ), one female (ZW).

... and they determined that from a photo?

Re: Rare half female, half male bird spotted by University of Otago zoologist

#20

Post by andsoitis » Wed, Dec 13, 2023, 2:35 PM UTC

guerrilla wrote: post #3

I thought they meant hermaphrodite but then saw the picture. They mean luterally half, right down the middle.

> I thought they meant hermaphrodite

The case in the article is gynandromorphism. Intersex is not necessarily a form of gynandromorphism.

Intersex refers to individuals who have biological characteristics that don't fit neatly into the two biological sexes of male and female. This can include variations in chromosomes, gonads, hormones, or genitals.

Gynandromorphism is a specific type of chimera, where the individual has both male and female tissues distributed in a mosaic pattern. This typically happens due to an error during early embryonic development. Occurs mainly in species of animals with strong sexual dimorphism.

In some cases, intersex individuals might have features resembling gynandromorphism, but usually it is more subtle variation in sex characteristics rather than a mosaic pattern of male and female traits.