Title:

Secret Parentage of an Owlet

A non-viable owlet was found in the enclosure of a captive Eurasian Eagle-Owl. Since Eurasian Eagle-Owls are not native to New England, it is only possible for the owlet to be a product of parthenogenesis or hybridization with an owl species that is native to New England. This project aimed to determine whether the owlet is the result of parthenogenesis or if it has a father. This was done by variant calling DNA reads from the mother owl and the owlet and counting the occurrences of different variant types. This was followed by visualizing the distributions of these variant types across the largest scaffolds. Additionally, if the owlet has a father, this project also aimed to determine which owl species the father most likely is. This was done by variant calling all potential father species and counting the variants shared with the mother and owlet. The results of this project showed that the owlet is not a product of parthenogenesis, and the father species was narrowed down to either the Great Horned Owl or the Snowy Owl.

Name

Comment*

Comments are viewable only by submitter

Captcha*