MORPHOMETRIC SEX DIMORPHISM AND GENETIC SEX IN Zenaida auriculata

PÉREZ M. R.; CID F. D.; DENARO A. C. ; BACH, NADIA C.; SOMOZA G. M.

San Luis

Congreso; XXXVIII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad de Biologia de Cuyo; 2019

Zenaida auriculata is a granivorous, sedentary, non-migratory dove, which is associated with rural and urban environments. It has a largedistribution in South America, a high reproductive rate and no apparent sexual dimorphism. Although chromatic differences in male andfemale plumage have been detected, they are not observable by the human eye. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determinethe sex of Z. auriculata individuals by morphometry and to test the efficacy of the cloacal morphological sexing, in order to provide aneasy and reliable tool to identify the sex of Z. auriculata individuals in field. We collected 45 individuals from urban environments andmeasured them using 11 morphometric characters with a Vernier caliper and a metallic ruler; also cloacal sex determination wasdetermined by observation of morphological characters inside the cloacal opening. In addition, blood samples of each individual werecollected for genetic sex determination by molecular techniques. Sex PCR analysis was carried out using CHD1-Z and CDH1-W set ofprimers. Morphometric data were compared between sexes by one-way ANOVA, and the percentage of dimorphism between sexes wasdetermined in each measure. Our results showed that cloacal sex determination in Z. auriculata resulted in an effectiveness greater than95% with respect to molecular confirmation. On the other hand, seven morphological characters showed significant differences (p