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Article: Souping up the eggs if dad's hot stuff.(female zebra finches add testosterone to eggs)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- October 30, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A female zebra finch with an attractive mate laces her eggs with more testosterone than a finch stuck with a dud.
That jolt of extra testosterone can give a chick a good start in life, driving it to beg for food more insistently and grow faster, explains Diego Gil, now at the University of Paris in Nanterre. In the Oct. 1 SCIENCE, he and his colleagues from the University of St. Andrews in Fife, Scotland, warn that the hot-male effect they've found complicates the study of preferred males. Their offspring's success could come from dad's good genes or mom's testosterone contribution.
Researchers can pretty much guarantee a male zebra ...