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

otago.ac.nz

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

#41

Post by NikkiA »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #14
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.

It can, and does, I used to know a bilateral chimera, you could clearly tell which side was which by hair colour, she identified as female.

Btw, 'she-male' a) does not refer to hermaphrodites, b) is an offensive term, and has been considered offensive for around 30 years, so no 'modern wokism' retort required.

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

#42

Post by retrac »

mbfg wrote: post #21

To me, the bilateralness is the super cool part. I imagine that this happens more often, but you just don't notice from a visual inspection.

There are multiple possible causes, but one is a phenomenon known as genetic mosaicism. That is when an organism is made up of multiple distinct genetic lineages, in species where this isn't typical. It can occur from things like twins merging in the womb, or from a stem cell in the embryo mutating and all its descendants being a little different. In humans (or birds) it often shows up in stripes (related to the basic developmental segments of the vertebrate animals) or indeed, bilateral. For a rather visible example: it is sometimes the cause of heterochromatic (different colour) eyes.

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

#43

Post by delecti »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #14
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.

The term "shemale" is usually confined to porn, where it refers to transgender women who still have their penis, rather than anything related to hermaphrodites.

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

#44

Post by libraryatnight »

matt-attack wrote: post #39
rsynnott wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

We’ll also still dial a phone number despite dials being gone for a half-century.

We see this sort of thing in computer icons, too. People who have never seen a real floppy but recognize it as a "save" icon. It's kind of neat how this evolves.

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

#45

Post by pjc50 »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #14
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.

Sciam on chimerism: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/3-human-chimeras-... ; although not bilateral.

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

#46

Post by mc32 »

calamari4065 wrote: post #37
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?!

Same way you still dial a phone or roll up a window.

but windows cannot be rolled up... they could be cranked up, or pushed up, or slid up, but they're not pliable enough to be rolled up.

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

#49

Post by bewaretheirs »

retrac wrote: post #42
mbfg wrote: post #21

To me, the bilateralness is the super cool part. I imagine that this happens more often, but you just don't notice from a visual inspection.

There are multiple possible causes, but one is a phenomenon known as genetic mosaicism. That is when an organism is made up of multiple distinct genetic lineages, in species where this isn't typical. It can occur from things like twins merging in the womb, or from a stem cell in the embryo mutating and all its descendants being a little different. In humans (or birds) it often shows up in stripes (related to the basi…

And sometimes it can result in DNA test results showing that children are not related to their mother, if when you swab the mother you don't get the same lineage as the one that developed into her ovaries:

https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/case-lydia-fairchild-and-her-ch...

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

#50

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

NikkiA wrote: post #41
HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It can, and does, I used to know a bilateral chimera, you could clearly tell which side was which by hair colour, she identified as female. Btw, 'she-male' a) does not refer to hermaphrodites, b) is an offensive term, and has been considered offensive for around 30 years, so no 'modern wokism' retort required.

No offense intended by "she-male" - it's used in the porn industry where it's presumably meant to attract a certain audience rather than be offensive. I didn't realize that these are (always? usually?) trans women.
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