Sex Ratio in the Offspring of Monogamous Bird Species (Demoiselle Crane Anthropoides virgo)

摘要

Using the EE0.6 molecular genetic sex marker, the gender of 155 chicks of a monogamous bird species, Demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo Linneaus, 1758), from the Azov-Black Sea, Caspian, Volga-Ural, Trans-Ural, Altai, Khakassian, and Transbaikal breeding groups was established. It was demonstrated that complete broods with two chicks represented by a male and a female were found more frequently than the broods with two chicks of the same sex. The broods in which both chicks were females prevailed over the broods out of two male chicks, although the differences were statistically insignificant. In total, out of 155 chicks, 69 males and 86 females were determined. Out of 112 chicks in the complete broods, 48 individuals were males and 64 were females. Despite a trend of female predominance among chicks in the total sample and in most breeding groups, the ratio of males and females in the Demoiselle crane offspring in general (0.445, P = 0.181) and in complete broods (0.429, P = 0.174) was parity, which reflects the adaptive and reproductive strategy of this monogamous bird species with a long life span.