How is a sun conure sexually monomorphic?

[Bengara]

I thought male and female both look the same I was reading about sun conures in wikipedia. How do males look differently from females? The male isn't more colorful then the female, but then how are they sexually monomorphic? Any ideas?

"On average, Sun Parakeets weigh approximately 110 g (4 oz) and are around 30 cm (12 in) long.[1] They are sexually monomorphic."

 

[Scotty T]

Uhhh Uhhh!! Dude looks like a lady ~AreoSmith

Sorry I couldn't resist ;-)

 

[Amber]

I think theirs some confusion happening here. As I understand it...

Dimorphism means two forms, andis when the two sexes look different
Monomorphism means one form, is when the two sexes/all individuals of the species are identical (or near identical)
Polymorphism is when the one species has many forms or variations (Like dogs, or different castes of ants within the one species, queen, soldier, worker, etc.)

Suns are monomorphic as stated. The link to the page on dimorphic creatures has caused the confusion.

Easiest way to remember mono=one, di=two, tri=three (as in trimorphic animals, usually applied to animals that go through a larval, cocoon and mature stage like butterflies, eg 3 stages) and poly=many!

The only difference between male and female suns (on the surface, their sex organs differ) is that the male is believed to have a flatter head then the female. One gender may also be slightly larger or weigh more. Not enough differenced to be considered dimorphic. Thats to our eyes anyway, I'm sure to suns the two genders can be distinguished easily through sight and smell

A dimorphic species would be the ekkie, with red females and green males, or humans with different secondary sex characteristics.

One of my favourite things about suns, jendays and conures in general (Along with budgies and cockatiels and other generally monomorphic species) is the two genders are equally as pretty, and make equally as fun pets. In some species (Like kings parrots and grass parrots) the females have duller colours and a more flightier attitude, which while certainly helping them survive in the wild, doesn't make them in demand as pets as they can be more then challenging (and not as visually pleasing) then their male counterparts.

 

[Amber]

And on that, species can have monomorphic juvenile forms, but dimorphic adult forms, or vice versa, or many combinations where they make be similar of different at different life stages. for example, ringneck chicks are identical (monomorphic) until sexual maturity when the male gets his ring, then they have dimorphic adult forms. Pretty neat, huh?

 

[Scotty T]

I'm confused! :smile033:

 

[Bengara]

Budgies you can tell the difference male has a blue cere and the female has a brown cere

 

[lexx510]

I'm confused! :smile033:

Sexually monomorphic means that both males and females look the same. So sun conures are, indeed, sexually monomorphic, because males and females of this species look the same.

 

[Amber]

Budgies you can tell the difference male has a blue cere and the female has a brown cere

This is true of course, but it's not really a huge enough difference to make them a truly dimorphic species. Their are degrees of dismorphism and all that jazz

Also, excuse my atrocious spelling above, it's late (well, early morning now) I need sleep.

 

[lene1949]

I think theirs some confusion happening here. As I understand it...

Dimorphism means two forms, andis when the two sexes look different
Monomorphism means one form, is when the two sexes/all individuals of the species are identical (or near identical)
Polymorphism is when the one species has many forms or variations (Like dogs, or different castes of ants within the one species, queen, soldier, worker, etc.)

Suns are monomorphic as stated. The link to the page on dimorphic creatures has caused the confusion.

Easiest way to remember mono=one, di=two, tri=three (as in trimorphic animals, usually applied to animals that go through a larval, cocoon and mature stage like butterflies, eg 3 stages) and poly=many!

The only difference between male and female suns (on the surface, their sex organs differ) is that the male is believed to have a flatter head then the female. One gender may also be slightly larger or weigh more. Not enough differenced to be considered dimorphic. Thats to our eyes anyway, I'm sure to suns the two genders can be distinguished easily through sight and smell

A dimorphic species would be the ekkie, with red females and green males, or humans with different secondary sex characteristics.

One of my favourite things about suns, jendays and conures in general (Along with budgies and cockatiels and other generally monomorphic species) is the two genders are equally as pretty, and make equally as fun pets. In some species (Like kings parrots and grass parrots) the females have duller colours and a more flightier attitude, which while certainly helping them survive in the wild, doesn't make them in demand as pets as they can be more then challenging (and not as visually pleasing) then their male counterparts.

Great post, Amber...

 

[Amber]

I'm a bit of a Biology fiend Lene Most of it comes from aquaria (I breed and raise aquarium fish), but the terms and their meanings extend over the animal kingdom. Studying teaching, should really be doing biology I guess. Oh well.

 

[lexx510]

I'm a bit of a Biology fiend Lene Most of it comes from aquaria (I breed and raise aquarium fish), but the terms and their meanings extend over the animal kingdom. Studying teaching, should really be doing biology I guess. Oh well.

Good to see another fish & bird lover on here . I breed and raise African Cichlids (mbuna).

 

[Amber]

I'm a bit of a Biology fiend Lene Most of it comes from aquaria (I breed and raise aquarium fish), but the terms and their meanings extend over the animal kingdom. Studying teaching, should really be doing biology I guess. Oh well.

Good to see another fish & bird lover on here . I breed and raise African Cichlids (mbuna).

They are Lake Malawi's right? Beautiful fish! Should direct me to some photos!

My only dabble in large cichlids was my much beloved pink oscar. Out of all the fish I have had he was the most intelligent one, almost dog like. But the water when I moved here was slowly killing her (Aluminium at a low pH not so good, we didn't pin point the EXACT issue until much later, but I had already given her to an oscar fiend friend a few towns over. She's doing very well.) so she had to move on to a new home, sadly. I'm more of a koi person myself (huge ponds ARE aquaculture to me ), though I do dabble in freshwater tropicials, and I have a huge soft spot for fancy goldfish (proper fancy goldfish kept well)... It's hard to have tanks when renting and moving every 6mths to a year while at uni though, so currently no fish with me here, though I have my koi up north.

 

[ZoeS]

"Mono means one, and rail means rail"

Is there anything the Simpsons can't teach us?

 

[Crazy4Birds]

I'm a bit of a Biology fiend Lene Most of it comes from aquaria (I breed and raise aquarium fish), but the terms and their meanings extend over the animal kingdom. Studying teaching, should really be doing biology I guess. Oh well.

Good to see another fish & bird lover on here . I breed and raise African Cichlids (mbuna).

Marine Biology major here!!!! It is indeed good to see other fish and bird lovers on here as well as Biology fiends!!

 

[Amber]

I'm a bit of a Biology fiend Lene Most of it comes from aquaria (I breed and raise aquarium fish), but the terms and their meanings extend over the animal kingdom. Studying teaching, should really be doing biology I guess. Oh well.

Good to see another fish & bird lover on here . I breed and raise African Cichlids (mbuna).

Marine Biology major here!!!! It is indeed good to see other fish and bird lovers on here as well as Biology fiends!!

You're doing one of the courses I wanted to! I eventually went with teaching though (I do really enjoy it, it was 50-50 either way ), because in Aus there are not many job openings for that degree/qualification (See- three job types total, with 150 graduates being churned out of the one uni I looked at for it alone= next to 0 employment opportunities in the field I do hear it is better overseas though, lucky you! ) I'd love to study it for kicks one day though.