Birds without gonads: their origin, behaviour, and bearing on the theory of the internal secretion of the testis

Riddle, Oscar (January 1925) Birds without gonads: their origin, behaviour, and bearing on the theory of the internal secretion of the testis. The British Journal of Experimental Biology, 2. pp. 211-246.

URL: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/2/2/211

Abstract

Sixteen cases of pigeons without a discoverable trace of gonadal tissue have been found and described. Supplementary groups, one of fifteen birds in which one gonad only was abnormally absent, and still another of seventeen cases of nearly suppressed gonads, comprise the principal material obtained and examined. It is practically certain that this absence of gonads was complete and persistent--not a temporary condition nor one attained shortly before examination of the birds. Previous observations on the "no gonad" and "one gonad" condition in birds and in other animals are reviewed. The basis of the gonadless condition is a purely developmental one, in which it is probable that physiological rather than cytological or genetic disturbance is chiefly concerned. An attempt is made to identify the type of disturbance involved in this developmental anomaly. It is concluded that such failures of gonad development are a consequence of the failure of all "primordial germ cells" to reach or enter the anlage of the germinal ridge.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: organism description > animal > bird
CSHL Authors:
Communities: The Carnegie Institution Department of Genetics
Depositing User: Elizabeth Pessala
Date: January 1925
Date Deposited: 18 Sep 2016 16:50
Last Modified: 20 Dec 2016 19:44
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/33510

Actions (login required)

Administrator's edit/view item Administrator's edit/view item
CSHL HomeAbout CSHLResearchEducationNews & FeaturesCampus & Public EventsCareersGiving