Canberra biologists have discovered that the male-specific Y-chromosome is shrinking – and it’s happening at different rates across species. The research team discovered that a marsupial’s Y-chromosome is genetically denser than the human Y-chromosome, meaning that animals like the tammar wallaby are bounds ahead on the ‘manliness’ scale.
However, even though the Y-chromosome is shrinking, in this case size doesn’t matter. The international study analysed DNA samples from tammar wallabies and found more genes on the male chromosome than expected.
Dr Paul Waters, Research School of Biology, ANU