Why the 'wimpy' Y chromosome hasn't evolved out of existence
Thursday, August 6, 2020 - 10:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Much smaller than its counterpart, the X chromosome, the Y chromosome has shrunken drastically over 200 million years of evolution. Even those who study it have used the word "wimpy" to describe it, and yet it continues to stick around even though sex chromosomes in non-mammalian vertebrates are known to experience quite a bit of evolutionarily turnover. An Opinion paper publishing on August 6 in the journal Trends in Genetics outlines a new theory—called the "persistent Y hypothesis"—to explain why the Y chromosome may be more resilient than it first appears.