Gynandromorph butterflies and other half-male, half-female creatures, particularly birds, have fascinated both scientists and amateurs for centuries.
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Researchers believe that the cardinal frequenting the Caldwells' bird feeder in Erie, Pa., is a rare bilateral gynandromorph, half male and half female.
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All serious butterfly collectors remember their first gynandromorph: a butterfly with a color and pattern that are distinctly male on one wing and female on the other.
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In the lab, scientists have used radiation to create gynandromorph flies, he said, but it is difficult to sort out the potential causes — including environmental harm — in a wild population.
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No one can be sure the bird is a gynandromorph without analyzing its genes with a blood test or necroscopy, but the split in plumage down the middle is characteristic of the rare event, according to Daniel Hooper, an evolutionary biologist at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.
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The latest sensation was a half-red, half-taupe cardinal that became a regular visitor in the backyard of Shirley and Jeffrey Caldwell in Erie, Pa. Although the bird would have to be tested to confirm that it is a gynandromorph, its color division strongly suggests that it is, scientists say.
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The major types of gynandromorphs, bilateral, polar and oblique are computationally modeled. Many other possible gynandromorph combinations are computationally modeled, including predicted morphologies yet to be discovered. The article relates gynandromorph developmental control networks to how species may form. The models are based on a computational model of bilateral symmetry.
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Fully female spider (Drassodes saccatus) with left male pedipalp, an example of mosaic gynandromorphism Heteropteryx dilatata gynandromorph Gynandromorph of the small white, Pieris rapae A gynandromorph is an organism that contains both male and female characteristics. The term comes from the Greek γυνή (gynē), female, ἀνήρ (anēr), male, and μορφή (morphē), form, and is used mainly in the field of entomology. Notable gynandromorphic organisms are butterflies, moths and other insects, wherein both types of body part can be distinguished physically due to sexual dimorphism.
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Morpho didius This specimen is a gynandromorph (Musée d'histoire naturelle de Lille). Morpho didius has a wingspan reaching , making it one of the largest of Morpho species. The dorsal side of the wings are iridescent and metallic blue, and the forewings are quite elongated.
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An unusual little skate specimen found off Fishers Island, New York contained a developed testis, vas deferens, and functional clasper on its left side and an adolescent ovary, shell gland, oviduct, and abortive clasper on its right. This example of hermaphroditism (a bilateral gynandromorph) is one of very few known for elasmobranch fishes.
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This bee is variable in size, especially among females. The average female has an intertegular distance (the width of the body measured between the wing bases) of 3 millimeters, and the average male is more slender, with an intertegular distance of about 2.4 millimeters.Wcislo, W. T., et al. (2004). A review of deviant phenotypes in bees in relation to brood parasitism, and a gynandromorph of Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae). Journal of Natural History 38(11), 1443-57.
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Gynandromorphism was first discovered by Bridges and Morgan in Drosophilla. It has been observed in numerous animal species, including crustaceans, such as lobsters and crabs, spiders and many species of bird.Gouldian finch Erythrura gouldiae Gynandromorph Powderhill Banding Fall 2004 A Gender-bender Colored Cardinal, by Tim Wall, Discovery News, 31 May 2011 A clear example in birds involves the zebra finch. These birds have lateralised brain structures in the face of a common steroid signal, providing strong evidence for a non-hormonal primary sex mechanism regulating brain differentiation.
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