Uncovering The Genomic Secrets Of Color Variants In Female Cuckoo Birds

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Evolution,Ecology,Common Cuckoo

Evolutionary ecologist and ornithologist as well as a science writer and journalist. I'm active on many social medias (linked here) and I curate my writing on Medium and Substack.

pinkish-buff or buff background to the barring and the sides of the neck, and sometimes small rufous spots on the median and greater coverts and the outer webs of the secondary feathers. Sexual dimorphism — the visible differences between males and females of the species — can easily be seen in a wide variety of animals — even in humans.

Which color variant the host songbirds learn to fear and to mob depends upon the abundance both of the cuckoos and of the birds of prey. Further, the prevalence of each color morph varies between different populations within the same species as well as between cuckoo species. Because only female cuckoos get close to the hosts’ nests, only female cuckoos show these color morphs, suggesting these color variant genes only occur in the females’ genomes — an example of a sex-limited polymorphism.

female cuckoos is probably linked to gene on the female sex chromosome or on the mitochondrial genome, which comes solely from the mother.

Evolution Ecology Common Cuckoo Cuculus Canorus Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus Optatus Grrlscientist Genomics Sex-Limited Polymorphism

 

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