Running head: SEXUAL SIZE DIMORPHISM IN MEXICAN JAYS 1

Sexual Ssize Ddimorphism in Mexican Jays

Yeram Lee

Scientific Writing

Daegu Ggyeongbuk institute of science and tecnhology

Prof. Anna Rose F. Hull

January 13, 2020

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Sexual size dimorphism in Mexican Jays

1. Introduction

Many species have sexual dimorphism in a variety of forms. One of these forms is the

size. Tell something about the size. What does size do? In this research, statistical analysis was

performed to verify the sexual size dimorphism in Mexican Jays. Sex identification was

performed before sexual size dimorphism determination.

Sexual dimorphism refers to a feature that is significantly differentiated by sex. This

feature appears in various species, and in various ways. The features include markings, color,

behavior, horn, or size (Lande, 1980). Our research focuses mainly on size differentiation. In

case of human, for example, men are usually bigger than women. Of the species that can be

closely examined, our investigation focused on the Mexican Jays. We thought sexual

dimorphism will also be applied to Mexican Jays.

The Mexican Jays are a species of bird, formerly known as the gray-breasted jay. It is

native to the Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, and Central Plateau of Mexico as

well as eastern Arizona, western New Mexico and western Texas in the United States. To

determine if sexual dimorphism occurs in Mexican Jays, we identified the sex of the specimens

and analyzed the data through statistical analysis. The Mexican Jays have W and Z

chromosomes differently from humans (Graves & Shetty, 2001). We identified the sex of

Mexican Jays by using differences in sex chromosomes (Rice, 1984).

The number of specimens was 22 which was used for analysis. In ten indexes, bill

width at nostrils and head showed meaningful differences between the sexes, and the right

wing and weight could have significant differences. These results suggest that enough sample

size can demonstrate sexual size dimorphism in Mexican Jays.

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2. Methods

In determining the sex of a Mexican Jay, the subject was in flock Kitchen, RGO XBG

and agarose gel electrophoresis was used. After the determining the gender, we compared the ten

indexes such as bill, tail, and weight through statistical analysis.

2.1 DNA extraction

We cut the blood paper and put in 15ml tube to make sample. We added 200μl PBS, 20μl

Proteinase K, and 200μl Buffer TL. We vortexed and incubated a sample at 56℃ for 10 min.

The sample was moved to column with 400μl TB and centrifuged for 1 min at 8000 rpm. The

sample was washed with 700μl BW by centrifuging for 1 min at 8000 rpm and with 500μl NW

by centrifuging for 3 min at 13500 rpm. After washing, the sample was incubated for 1 min at

room temperature. The column was then Then moved the column from the sample into 1.5 ml

tube. 70μl AE was added to the tube and the tube was incubated for 5min at room temperature.

At lastFinally, ,the sample was centrifuged for 1 min at 8000 rpm.

2.2 PCR

We used 20μl PCR cocktail made of 1.5mM MgCl2, 2.5μl 10xPCR Buffer, 400μM

dNTP, Taq polymerase, 1μM primer 2μl each, and 4μl template. Thermal profile: 5 min at 94℃

(denaturation) and 35 cycles of 30 sec at 94℃ (denaturation), 30 sec at 50℃ (annealing), and 45

sec at 72℃ (elongation).

2.3 Electrophoresis
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We made a 2% agarose gel by mixing 2g Agarose on 100ml PAE buffer, adding eco red

10μl to dye, and melting in the Microwave for 2 min. We did 2% agarose gel electrophoresis at

100W for 30 min.

2.4 Data analysis and statistics

We analyzed 22 specimens’ beak length base, bill depth base, bill depth nostrils, bill

width at base, bill width at nostrils, head, right tarsus, right wing, tail, and weight by the sex.

First, we calculated a p-value for the F-test to test the equal variance. After the F-test, we

calculated a p-value for the T-test to test the equal mean.

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References

Brown, J. L. (1963). Social organization and behavior of the Mexican Jay. Condor, 65(2), l26-

l53.

Graves, J. A. M., & Shetty, S. (2001). Sex from W to Z: evolution of vertebrate sex

chromosomes and sex determining genes. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A:

Ecological Genetics and Physiology, 290(5), 449-462.

Lande, R. (1980). Sexual dimorphism, sexual selection, and adaptation in polygenic characters.

Evolution, 34(2), 292-305.

Rice, W. R. (1984). Sex chromosomes and the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Evolution,

38(4), 735-742.