44
One 'absolutely prolific' male bird is keeping his species alive in the U.K. (www.cbc.ca)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/news@hexbear.net
7 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

o7

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 2 points 2 days ago (1 child)

But the next generation will all be reproducing with siblings, and the next generation will all be reproducing with cousins.

My understanding is that this will result in basically unpredictable recessive traits becoming dominant in the population.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

    The genetic bottleneck scenario you're describing is a "last man on earth" scenario.

    AU (the male Montagu's Harrier the article is about) is not the last male of his species, he's just the only male currently migrating to the UK to breed. There are plenty of Montagu's Harriers breeding across the European continent and plenty of unrelated females seeking male Harriers in the UK.

    The offspring will have 50% of AU's DNA, but they will almost certainly not be reproducing with their nestmates.

    Also, sex determination in birds is different than in therian mammals. As a male, AU has two Z chromosomes to pass on and his daughters will get their W chromosomes from their mothers, which means that this population will be more genetically diverse than one would expect based on human genetics.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent