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Cardenal, half male, half female


DieChecker

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http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2013/12/teratology-gynandromorph-cardinal-one.html

Male cardinals are bright red while females are a dull brownish color to provide camoflauge. This particular bird sports the colorations of both birds and is literall split down the middle.

cardinal-11.jpg

True, or photoshop?

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Real, but old news. I found several articles from back in 2011. With different photos.

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Probably true, there have been lobsters with normal olive green coloration on one side and bright orange on the other, also split down the middle. On half lacked the natural blue pigment that combined with the orange made typical lobster green. I suspect the bird lacks the ability to make red pigment on one side of it's body. I saw a grackle (normally glossy blue-black with a few pure white tail feathers.

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hmmm.. seems that this is actually a thing. http://news.discovery.com/animals/bi-color-cardinal-mystery-110531.htm

And Wikipedia cites this article in its article on gynandromorphs:

hen, Xuqi; Agate, Robert J.; Itoh, Yuichiro; Arnold, Arthur P. (2005). "Sexually dimorphic expression of trkB, a Z-linked gene, in early posthatch zebra finch brain". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102 (21): 7730–5. doi:10.1073/pnas.0408350102. PMC 1140405. PMID 15894627. Lay summaryScientific American (March 25, 2003).

So, in this case, my initial skepticism and cynicism were likely wrong.

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Wonder if this bird was caught and studied. No idea if hermaphroditism is common in animals - apart from standard ones like snails.

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