INTECH   27907
INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE CHASCOMUS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Morphometric sex dimorphism and genetic sex in Zenaida auriculata
Autor/es:
NADIA C. BACH; GUSTAVO M. SOMOZA; ANA C. DENARO; MARÍA R. PÉREZ; FABRICIO CID
Lugar:
San Luis
Reunión:
Congreso; XXXVII Reunión Científica Annual Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2019
Institución organizadora:
Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo
Resumen:
Zenaida auriculata is a granivorous, sedentary, non-migratory dove, which is associated with rural and urban environments. It has a large distribution in South America, a high reproductive rate and no apparent sexual dimorphism. Although chromatic differences in male and female plumage have been detected, they are not observable by the human eye. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the sex of Z. auriculata individuals by morphometry and to test the efficacy of the cloacal morphological sexing, in order to provide an easy and reliable tool to identify the sex of Z. auriculata individuals in field. We collected 45 individuals form urban environments and measured them using 11 morphometric characters, together with cloacal and molecular sex determination as a control. Morphometric data were compared between sexes by one-way ANOVA, and the percentage of dimorphism between sexes was determined in each measure. Our results showed that cloacal sex determination in Z. auriculata resulted in an effectiveness greater than 95% with respect to molecular confirmation. On the other hand, seven morphological characters showed significant differences (p < 0.05) between sexes being larger in males than in females. The most significant ones were peak width with 10.99 % of dimorphism, graduation of the tail with 9.92 % of dimorphism, and wing length with 7.76 % of dimorphism. Results demonstrate that this species has gender morphometric differences and the validity of the cloacal morphological sexing technique, which can be easily performed in the field to reliably determine the sex of Zenaida auriculata.