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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Avian Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1534334
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights in Avian Physiology: 2024 View all articles

Sexual dimorphism for juvenile body weight in lines of chickens divergently selected for 8-week body weight

Provisionally accepted
Paul B Siegel Paul B Siegel *Christa F Honaker Christa F Honaker
  • Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Although of biological and economical relevance, there is a dearth of literature on the genetics of sexual dimorphism for juvenile body weight in meat-type chickens. Here, we report on sexual dimorphism for 4-and 8-week weights in White Plymouth Rock lines that have undergone 67 generations of selection for 8-week body weight. Fluctuations in the degree of dimorphism occurred across generations with greater dimorphism at 8 than 4 weeks, with variation less at the older than younger age. Over the 67 generations, there was a significant decrease in degree of dimorphism in the high line with no change in the low line. It will be very difficult to genetically modify sexual dimorphism within a particular population via the conventional tools that are currently available. Nature possesses homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the stasis in a population.

    Keywords: chicken, Body Weight, selection, dimorphism, Homeostasis

    Received: 25 Nov 2024; Accepted: 24 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Siegel and Honaker. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Paul B Siegel, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, United States

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