Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Assessing Differences in Sperm Competitive Ability in Drosophila
Published on: August 22, 2013
Intraspecific variation in testis asymmetry in birds: evidence for naturally occurring compensation
1Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada. calhims@queensu.ca
Abstract:
In many taxa, the left and right testes often differ in size. The compensation hypothesis states that one testis of the pair serves as a 'back-up' for any reduced function in the other and provides a mechanism to explain intraspecific variation in degree and direction of gonad asymmetry. Although testis asymmetry is common in birds, evidence for natural testis compensation is unknown. Using a novel quantitative approach that can be applied to any bilateral organ or structure, we show that testis compensation occurs naturally in birds and can be complete when one testis fails to develop. Owing to a recurrent risk of testis impairment and an evolutionary trade-off between natural and sexual selections acting on the arrangement of internal organs in species with abdominal and/or seasonal testes, compensation adds an important, but neglected, dimension to measures of male reproductive investment.
Related Concept Videos
Dosage Compensation
In addition to sexual development, the X chromosome has genes involved in autosomal functions such as brain development and the immune system. Therefore, males and females with distinct numbers of X chromosomes will have...
Complementation Tests
Organisms heterozygous for different mutations are crossed pairwise in all combinations. If present on different genes, the mutations can complement each other by providing the missing...
Mate Choice
Testing a Claim about Mean: Unknown Population SD
Estimating a population mean requires the samples to be approximately normally distributed. The data should be collected from the randomly selected samples having no sampling bias. There is no specific requirement for sample size. But if the sample size is less than 30, and we don't know the population standard deviation, a different approach is used; instead...
The Ratio of X Chromosome to Autosomes
Normal male Drosophila has a ratio of one X chromosome to two sets of autosomes. In contrast, normal female Drosophila...
Background and Environment Affect Phenotype
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...

