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A striking and extremely rare half female, half male bird has been spotted by a University of Otago zoologist (www.otago.ac.nz)

submitted 9 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/biodiversity@mander.xyz

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[-] Cap@lemm.ee 14 points 9 months ago

This must be a devil bird! No God would create something that isn't either a male or female! No in betweens! /s

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

We need to make a law forcing it to be one or the other. The way it is now is unnatural and confusing! /s

[-] Cap@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago

Exactly! Next thing you know someone is gonna say it's sexuality is fluid. Think of the children!

[-] tegs_terry@feddit.uk 1 points 9 months ago

Ooh, look at me! I'm making people happy! I'm the Magical Man from Happy-Land, in a gumdrop house on Lollipop Lane!

Oh by the way I was being sarcastic

Homer Simpson

[-] HowManyNimons@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

TAKE IT AWAY ITS WOKE ITS A LIAR

[-] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 8 points 9 months ago

A true gynandromorph!

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 5 points 9 months ago

Is it hermaphroditic or is it just the plumage colors are usually one color for males another for female and this bird has both colors?

What's in the bird's pants?

[-] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 months ago

The article mentions double fertilisation, so I guess it's hermaphroditic?

[-] Aqarius@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

If it's like the chicken I read about previously, it's literally half one, half the other, as if you split two birds in half lengthwise and mixed up the pairing when you put them back together.

[-] tegs_terry@feddit.uk 2 points 9 months ago

It probably has a cloaca, so externally nothing

[-] HowManyNimons@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago

DOES IT HAVE A PECKER?

[-] BmeBenji@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

This was the very first thing that came to mind

[-] rosymind@leminal.space 1 points 9 months ago

Excerpt:

Professor Spencer says gynandromorphs – animals with both male and female characteristics in a species that usually have separate sexes – are important for our understanding of sex determination and sexual behaviour in birds.

The main groups in which the phenomenon has been recorded include animal species which feature strong sexual dimorphism; most often insects, especially butterflies, crustaceans, spiders, even lizards and rodents.

“This particular example of bilateral gynandromorphy – male one side and female the other – shows that, as in several other species, either side of the bird can be male or female.

“The phenomenon arises from an error during female cell division to produce an egg, followed by double-fertilization by two sperm,” he explains.

this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023

141 points (99.3% liked)

Biodiversity

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Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It can be used more specifically to refer to all of the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. Scientists have estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence. However, only around 1.2 million species have been identified and described so far, most of which are insects. This means that millions of other organisms remain a complete mystery.

Over generations, all of the species that are currently alive today have evolved unique traits that make them distinct from other species. These differences are what scientists use to tell one species from another. Organisms that have evolved to be so different from one another that they can no longer reproduce with each other are considered different species. All organisms that can reproduce with each other fall into one species. Read more...

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