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This California condors virgin birth thing

I was thinking that this has to be a spoof. A report of California condors reproducing by pathenogenesis (?). Virgin birth basically.

The bit that made me insist that it was rubbish is that both kiddies were male. So, where’s the Y come from then, eh, eh?

Male cells have one X, and a tiny Y chromosome. Birds also have sex chromosomes, but they act in completely the opposite way. Male birds have two copies of a large, gene-rich chromosome called Z, and females have a single Z and a W chromosome.

Ah.

6 thoughts on “This California condors virgin birth thing”

  1. Next up, someone will work out how a ‘bloke’ can do the same. Some chemical magic to turn sperm stem cells into an egg & then grow it ectopically. I’m not volunteering…

    Cue the gender alphabet soup wars over that one!

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