Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec 17;112(7):569-574.
doi: 10.1093/jhered/esab052.

Facultative Parthenogenesis in California Condors

Oliver A Ryder  1 , Steven Thomas  1   2 , Jessica Martin Judson  1   3 , Michael N Romanov  1   4 , Sugandha Dandekar  5 , Jeanette C Papp  5 , Lindsay C Sidak-Loftis  1   6 , Kelli Walker  7 , Ilse H Stalis  8 , Michael Mace  9 , Cynthia C Steiner  1 , Leona G Chemnick  1
Affiliations

Facultative Parthenogenesis in California Condors

Oliver A Ryder et al. J Hered. .

Erratum in

  • Corrigendum to: Facultative Parthenogenesis in California Condors.
    Ryder OA, Thomas S, Judson JM, Romanov MN, Dandekar S, Papp JC, Sidak-Loftis LC, Walker K, Stalis IH, Mace M, Steiner CC, Chemnick LG. Ryder OA, et al. J Hered. 2022 May 16;113(2):217. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esab074. J Hered. 2022. PMID: 35575084 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Parthenogenesis is a relatively rare event in birds, documented in unfertilized eggs from columbid, galliform, and passerine females with no access to males. In the critically endangered California condor, parentage analysis conducted utilizing polymorphic microsatellite loci has identified two instances of parthenogenetic development from the eggs of two females in the captive breeding program, each continuously housed with a reproductively capable male with whom they had produced offspring. Paternal genetic contribution to the two chicks was excluded. Both parthenotes possessed the expected male ZZ sex chromosomes and were homozygous for all evaluated markers inherited from their dams. These findings represent the first molecular marker-based identification of facultative parthenogenesis in an avian species, notably of females in regular contact with fertile males, and add to the phylogenetic breadth of vertebrate taxa documented to have reproduced via asexual reproduction.

Keywords: California condor; conservation genetics; parthenogenesis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

    1. Bartelmez GW, Riddle O. 1924. On parthenogenetic cleavage and on the role of water adsorption on the ovum in the formation of the subgerminal cavity in the pigeon’s egg. Amer J Anat. 33:57–66.
    1. Booth W, Johnson DH, Moore S, Schal C, Vargo EL. 2011b. Evidence for viable, non-clonal but fatherless Boa constrictors. Biol Lett. 7:253–256. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Booth W, Million L, Reynolds RG, Burghardt GM, Vargo EL, Schal C, Tzika AC, Schuett GW. 2011a. Consecutive virgin births in the new world boid snake, the Colombian rainbow Boa, Epicrates maurus. J Hered. 102:759–763. - PubMed
    1. Booth W, Schuett GW. 2016. The emerging phylogenetic pattern of parthenogenesis in snakes. Biol J Linn Soc. 118:172–186.
    1. Booth W, Schuett GW, Ridgway A, Buxton DW, Castoe TA, Bastone G, Bennett C, McMahan W. 2014. New insights on facultative parthenogenesis in pythons. Biol J Linn Soc. 112:461–468.

Publication types