The Story Behind That Weird Cardinal You’re Seeing on Facebook (1/2 red 1/2 white)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/causes/the-story-behind-that-weird-cardinal-youre-seeing-on-facebook.html

by s.e. smithJanuary 1, 20152:30 pm

There’s a striking photo you may have noticed popping up on your Facebook feed lately: A red cardinal squaring off against the camera, one side in the brightly colored male plumage that gave the species its common name, the other in the drab plumage associated with females of the species. The story behind this half male, half female bird is fascinating, providing a glimpse into how birds reproduce and how this particular chimera — a type of genetic aberration — can develop. Learning more about this and other “half-siders,” as birders calls them, offers valuable inside into early development as cells divide in the egg.

The reason this cardinal is showing up again even though he was first spotted several years ago is that he — and she — were the subject of a recent study. Over 40 nonconsecutive days, Brian D. Peer and Robert W. Motz observed the bird in its natural environment. They wanted to learn more about how this particular gynandromorph (the formal term for such birds) handled the natural environment. They found that the bird didn’t sing, nor did it mate with other cardinals. It appeared disinterested in interacting with recorded bird calls, and that other birds largely left it alone, perhaps not recognizing their compatriot as one of their own.

That makes for a rather lonely existence, especially when paired with the presumed infertility of most bird gynandromorphs. Here’s where the story gets interesting, though. While gynandromorph insects have been observed, they’re rare among vertebrates like birds, and their appearance confronts traditional beliefs about fetal development. The discovery of this and similar birds proved extremely valuable for researchers who wanted to know how bird embryos develop.

With humans and other mammals, cells are largely undifferentiated in the early stages of development, although they do carry specific chromosomes that code for the production of either androgens or estrogens. At around the seventh week of pregnancy (in the case of humans), the fetus begins building these hormones, which in turn cause it to develop secondary sex characteristics like gonads and ovaries. Historically, scientists believed that birds developed in the same way, with hormones determining the appearance of birds as they developed in the egg, but gynandromorphs challenge this assumption. This phenomenon isn’t seen in humans (some disorders of sexual development result in genitals that don’t conform with with sexual dimorphism, or unusual hormone levels, but they don’t cause the half and half split seen in gynandromorphs).


FULL story at link.

[misterhighwasted]

1. Transgender. For birds

See Michele Dugger, ! Your God made them too.
(Just so sick that sanctimonious hateful family)

[exboyfil]

2. I want to name the cardinal

Harvey Dent.

[Javaman]

14. Wherrrrreeee's Harvey Dent!!!! nt

[Takket]

3. That bird us obviously unnatural, very confused, and needs therapy

[TlalocW]

12. Fundamentalist preachers would blame the bird on human immorality

I asked one that came to yell at us when I was in college why homosexuality was seen in "lower" animals that presumably don't have souls*. Since no souls implied animals didn't have to worry about sinful behavior, any behavior they engaged in - especially in the wild - would have to be seen as natural.

But apparently God had given man dominion over the Earth and since man's sin enveloped Earth, that was why there were homosexual animals. "So because I cursed earlier today, that's the reason there are two male monkeys banging each other in the jungles of Africa right now?" I asked.

He wouldn't take any more of my questions.

* Not saying animals have souls or not. Just evangelists tend to fall on the they don't have souls side.

TlalocW

[BlueJazz]

4. "They found that the little bird didn’t sing, nor did it mate with other cardinals."

Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2015, 07:15 AM - Edit history (1)

"It appeared disinterested in interacting with recorded bird calls, and that other birds largely left it alone"

I know this sounds silly but I'm truly sad for the little bird.

[Marie Marie]

5. Not silly - I feel the same way.

[3catwoman3]

8. I agree. Not silly in the least.

Poor lonely birdie.

[F4lconF16]

13. +1

Nothing wrong with that. Some of us don't need to be around others.

[SunSeeker]

9. +1

[progressoid]

6. yup, it happens

?itok=-uZ3Jaok

[tclambert]

7. That's what happens when you fall asleep on your side under the sunlamp.

[DhhD]

10. Generally male birds do not have a Y chromosome. Estrogen breaks down in to testosterone.

Seems like the ectoderm may have split very early moving the female chromosome into one side of the early blastocoel and the other cell, having no sex chromosome moved to the other direction. It is probably nondisjunction in the blastocoel. Wonder if there are other cells in the body with more genes on one side of the endoderm and mesoderm. The beak is all red.

If you can, search for the northern cardinal and other cardinal varieties. The apricot,blue and pink colored cardinals are beautiful to.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Northern+cardinal+bird&rlz=1T4PLXB_enUS602US603&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=DS6mVPncEMabgwSpuoCQAw&ved=0CKIBEIke&biw=1024&bih=651

[2naSalit]

11. Aren't both male and female beaks red though? n/t

[Omaha Steve]

15. There is also a very rare yellow (This cardinal is yellow because of a rare genetic mutation)

http://biology.eku.edu/kos/yellow_NOCA.htm

Kentucky Ornithological Society

Yellow Northern Cardinal

Photos by David Gourley
Boyle County, KY
January 2011



According to bird plumage expert Geoff Hill (Auburn University): This cardinal is yellow because of a rare genetic mutation. The mutation is
associated with fitness costs so it doesn't spread in areas. It arises de nova once in a while. I've looked at an estimated 50,000 cardinals in my
lifetime and I've never seen a yellow one (except a museum specimen at LSU).

Geoff and two colleagues published a paper based on the yellow Northern Cardinal in the LSU collection. A pdf version of the paper is available at: http://biology.eku.edu/kos/kos_images/NOCA_pigments.pdf

[ehrnst]

16. I'm on the right track, baby, I was hatched this way... (nt)