Well yes, the gene for the head colour in Gouldian Finches is sex linked, so that is an extra complication. And a little awkward for us - xx female / xy male
- mammals to follow, because birds are the opposite to mammals in terms of sex chromosomes.
Back to John’s original message, I suspect it was referring to my comment about an odd Maned Duck photographed on one of the Wednesday walk group that I thought
had this condition (one half male /. one half female) that I asked about whether there was any further photos or opinions of but no one commented further.
Philip
From: Geoffrey Dabb [
Sent: Tuesday, 4 September, 2018 3:35 PM
To:
Subject: FW: [canberrabirds] Straight down the high-diddle-diddle
A combination of 2 different morphs, Red-headed and Black headed. A case of servopapyrism (saving paper)
From: Philip Veerman <>
Sent: Tuesday, 4 September 2018 10:49 AM
To: 'John Layton' <>; 'Canberra birds' <>
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Straight down the high-diddle-diddle
I think that when this (rare event) occurs, it is usually divided sex across the mid line. So to that extent it is not unusual. It occurs in many types of animals,
other than birds.
Several internet references to this. See for example:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/5810962/bilateral-gynandromorphism-a-fancy-way-of-saying-youre-literally-half-male-and-half-female?IR=T
From: John Layton
Sent: Tuesday, 4 September, 2018 7:12 AM
To: Canberra birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Straight down the high-diddle-diddle
I seem to remember that several weeks ago there was mention/discussion about gynandromorphism. Accordingly, check out this androgynous chick from Peter Slater’s sumptuous
book, Australian Birds – a collection of paintings and drawings.
