Abstract
Slithering Toward Clarity: Snakes Shed New Light on the Evolution and Function of Sex Chromosomes
Highlights
Females females? For the majority of animals, the answer lies in the sex chromosomes, which come in two distinct types, with the combination in which they are doled out determining the gender of the offspring
Genomic studies show that in each case the two sex chromosomes were once a matched pair of autosomes, one of which has since degenerated over evolutionary time, with intriguing variations on the theme: In most mammals, presence of two undegraded (X) chromosomes produces a female (XX), while presence of a degenerate (Y) chromosome indicates a male (XY); in birds and reptiles, the matched set (ZZ) produces a male, while the unmatched (ZW) set produces a female
Similarities and differences between XY and ZW systems offer rich opportunity to explore the origins of sex chromosomes as well as the implications for how the traits they carry are expressed and shared from one generation to the
Summary
Females females? For the majority of animals, the answer lies in the sex chromosomes, which come in two distinct types, with the combination in which they are doled out determining the gender of the offspring. Genomic studies show that in each case the two sex chromosomes were once a matched pair of autosomes, one of which has since degenerated over evolutionary time, with intriguing variations on the theme: In most mammals, presence of two undegraded (X) chromosomes produces a female (XX), while presence of a degenerate (Y) chromosome indicates a male (XY); in birds and reptiles, the matched set (ZZ) produces a male, while the unmatched (ZW) set produces a female.
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