Abstract
We describe genome size (nuclear DNA content), and cellular and nuclear dimensions of erythrocytes in a triploid Blue-and-Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna) and its diploid parents. The genome size of the triploid (4.23 pg) was 1.5 times greater than the genome size of the mother (2.80 pg) and the father (2.89 pg). The sex chromosome composition was ZZW, and was predicted correctly based on the genome size of the parents. Erythrocytes of the triploid were significantly larger than the erythrocytes of the parents. Because polyploidy has been reported only in one other family of birds (Phasianidae), the parrots and their relatives might prove to be useful in the study of avian triploidy.
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Tiersch, T.R., Beck, M.L. & Douglass, M. ZZW autotriploidy in a Blue-and-Yellow Macaw. Genetica 84, 209–212 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00127249
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00127249