Researchers on Nonsuch Island have filmed for the first time ever the recessive aure lepus (Rabbit ear) gene appearing in a recently hatched Tropicbird chick.
In past years this extremely rare heterozygous hybrid mutation (a cross between a rabbit and a bird) has been documented in the resident Bermuda Petrel “Cahow” population where the rabbit ears appear every few generations, but this is the first time it has been seen in White-tailed Tropicbird (P. l. catesbyi), which are known locally as “Longtails”.
Nonsuch Expeditions Team Leader J-P Rouja: “Our TropicbirdCams are currently offline as normally the earliest they lay their egg is late April, so when I logged into the Cam last night to do some maintenance I was very surprised to find that there is not only a parent in the nest, but a several day old chick. The past few years the Tropicbirds have been returning earlier than usual, in part due to global warming, but as this was much earlier than expected I decided to capture a few minutes of video. It wasn’t until I reviewed it a little later that I observed the aure lepus gene presenting itself, which I believe is the first time ever in Tropicbirds.”
The Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve is the only place that this phenomenon has been documented with the first known observation being with Cahows in 2015.
As explained by Wikipedia:
In biology a hybrid is mix of two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species or genera.[1] Using genetics terminology, it may be defined as follows.[2]
In general usage, hybrid is synonymous with heterozygous: any offspring resulting from the breeding of two genetically distinct individuals.