ArticleBiology letters2012
The long and the short of avian W chromosomes: no evidence for gradual W shortening.
Article in Biology letters, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Review
- Article
- Unraveling the role of satellite DNAs in the evolution of the giant XY sex chromosomes of the flea beetle Omophoita octoguttata (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae).BMC biology · 2025Article
- Chromosome-level reference genome assembly of the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) and population genomics offer insights into the falcon population in Mongolia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Application of Minimally Invasive Oral Swab Samples for qPCR-Based Sexing in Neognathae Birds.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Satellitome Analysis in the Southern Lapwing (Genes · 2024Article
- Genetic sex determination, sex chromosome size and sex-specific lifespans across tetrapods.Journal of evolutionary biology · 2023Article
- Transposable element accumulation drives size differences among polymorphic Y Chromosomes inGenome research · 2022Article
- Genetic architecture facilitates then constrains adaptation in a host-parasite coevolutionary arms race.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Recurrent chromosome reshuffling and the evolution of neo-sex chromosomes in parrots.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Avian Neo-Sex Chromosomes Reveal Dynamics of Recombination Suppression and W Degeneration.Molecular biology and evolution · 2021Article
- A new duck genome reveals conserved and convergently evolved chromosome architectures of birds and mammals.GigaScience · 2021Article
- Sequence Transpositions Restore Genes on the Highly Degenerated W Chromosomes of Songbirds.Genes · 2020Article
- Article
- New genome assembly of the barn owl (Ecology and evolution · 2020Article
- Genomic evidence of neo-sex chromosomes in the eastern yellow robin.GigaScience · 2019Article
- Article
- A Genetic Map of Ostrich Z Chromosome and the Role of Inversions in Avian Sex Chromosome Evolution.Genome biology and evolution · 2018Article
- Evolution of recombination rates between sex chromosomes.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2017Review
- Highly conserved Z and molecularly diverged W chromosomes in the fish genus Triportheus (Characiformes, Triportheidae).Heredity · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The well-established view of the evolution of sex chromosome dimorphism is of a gradual genetic and morphological degeneration of the hemizygous chromosome. Yet, no large-scale comparative analysis exists to support this view. Here, we analysed karyotypes of 200 bird species to test whether the supposed directional changes occur in bird sex chromosomes. We found no support for the view that W chromosomes gradually become smaller over evolutionary time. On the contrary, the length of the W chromosome can fluctuate over short time scales, probably involving both shortening and elongation of non-coding regions. Recent discoveries of near-identical palindromes and neo-sex chromosomes in birds may also contribute to the observed variation. Further studies are now needed to investigate how chromosome morphology relates to its gene content, and whether the changes in size were driven by selection.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.