Gould diamond females can choose the sex of the offspring

2009/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

The diamond female of the gouldas looks towards the males of the upper "branch", with option of male head red or black. According to this choice, the female will also choose the proportion of male and female offspring, according to biologists at Macquarie University in Sydney.

When red and black Gouldas (Erythrura gouldiae) diamonds cross, many puppies, especially females, die. Thus, if females had the opportunity to somehow control the proportion of pups and females, crossing them with males of different colors, they would not lose unnecessary energy creating the female pups that will die.

To demonstrate this hypothesis, researchers have crossed Gould's red and black head diamonds. The proportion of male and female offspring born when crossing the same color is similar. When crossing the colors, 82% of the eggs laid are males.

The most surprising thing is that when painting the head to the males -- the blacks in red and vice versa -- they have obtained the same results, that is to say, they have seen that the color that Gould's diamond female, even if artificial, conditions the proportion of male and female offspring that will be born next.