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DNA is amazing stuff, but sometimes it doesn’t behave as expected. In this northern cardinal bird there are two sets of DNA; the right side of the bird is male, and the left side is female, making this a ‘genetic chimera’.

PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Peer's cardinal. (Peer & Motz, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 2014)
sector_ico_Environment_trans Environment
February 12, 2019

This cardinal bird is a genetic chimera, meaning it has two sets of DNA. You can see from it’s striking plumage that the right side of the bird is male, and bright red, while the left side is female, and a muted taupe. This incredibly rare phenomenon has occurred because the mother’s egg cell contained two nuclei, which was ‘double fertilized’. One fertilized nuclei was genetically female, the other genetically male, and they then fused together to make this remarkable bird, known as a ‘half-sider to bird’ enthusiasts. Often these chimeras are infertile, but the hope is that this particular bird will be fertile, as only the left ovary in birds is functional.

Source: Science Alert

Read more: http://ow.ly/2JL430nDtYG

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