Birdwatchers have spotted a stunning,rare cardinal in a garden in Erie, western Pennsylvania. Perched on a department in a backyard tree, and bird enthusiasts have photographed a spectacular northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) that is “half-male,half-female,” CBS Pittsburgh is reporting.According to the National Geographic, or the sensational creature — one of the rarest and most elusive occurrences in nature — is known as a bilateral gynandromorph. The incredible bird has the colors of its plumage split honest down the middle,exhibiting a knowing vermilion shade on one side (the female half) and a deep taupe hue on the other (the male half).
The cardinal’s striking appearance is the result of double fertilization, explains the National Geographic. Bilateral gynandromorphy in birds occurs when a female egg cell develops two nuclei, and each carrying a different sex chromosome (Z and W),and is then fertilized by two sperm — both carrying the same Z chromosome.
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Source: inquisitr.com