About Nick's question. I hope I am at least mostly correct in this. The
situation might be a bit different between mammals and birds. Mammals generally
have in the vicinity of 20 to 30 pairs of chromosomes. Birds usually have
approximately 80 chromosomes, with only a few being distinguishable
macrochromosomes and an average of 60 being microchromosomes. They are more
abundant in birds than any other group of animals.
It is in the failure of not fully matched pairs of chromosomes to pair up when
the meiosis cell division occurs e.g. in a horse and donkey parent chromosomes
that makes the mule infertile. Plus of course all sorts of possible behavioural
issues. Birds, with many more chromosomes than mammals might have different
hybrid fertility issues. Maybe whilst the mechanics and processes will be the
same, maybe the much greater number of chromosomes make it more complicated and
variable for birds. Or just different or maybe less complicated. Thinking about
it, hybridisation occurs easily in so many birds in captivity, and there are
many clear hybrid communities in various birds. A quick search did not give me
any insights about this. The complexity in the question is the extent to which
hybrids are fertile and there are sure to be many different answers.
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Canberrabirds
On Behalf Of Nick Payne via Canberrabirds
Sent: Monday, 30 August, 2021 4:44 PM
To:
Subject: Rosella observation
Yes, Crimson/Eastern Rosella hybrids are seen around here every so often.
Here's a photo I took about ten years ago near the Yarralumla Nursery, of a
Crimson/Eastern Rosella hybrid with a Crimson Rosella.
Does anyone know if the hybrids can reproduce, or are they the avian equivalent
of mules?
Nick Payne
--
This is the email announcement and discussion list of the Canberra
Ornithologists Group.
Emails posted to the list that exceed 2 MB (2,000 kB) in size, including
attachments, will be rejected.
All emails distributed via the list are archived at
http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/html/canberrabirds. It is a
condition of list membership that you agree to your contributions being
archived.
Canberrabirds mailing list
https://lists.canberrabirds.org.au/mailman/listinfo/canberrabirds
|
