Sex to choose
1997/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
We knew that wasps and bees had the ability to create a la carte male or female offspring, but so far we did not believe that birds also had that capacity.
However, the Seychelles marsh reeds (Birds Acrocephalus seychellensis) are special. These birds usually live in pairs on small islands. When they have enough food, they tend to dominate a wider territory. For this they usually have female offspring that help nest and collect food.
However, if parents cannot grow much, due to food shortages, they usually have male offspring, as they will fly earlier and leave the nest. With this event birds are expected to better understand the genetic mechanism of choice of the sex of the offspring.
