L’inquinamento alla base dell’omosessualità degli uccelli?

Un gruppo di scienziati americani ipotizza che l’inquinamento possa essere considerato una minaccia per le popolazioni di uccelli perché provoca una tendenza ad accoppiarsi tra esemplari maschi.

Gli scienziati ritengono che composti di metalli velenosi possano entrare nella catena alimentare e di conseguenza influenzino la sessualità, causando una riduzione della prole. Essi hanno scoperto che livelli ancora relativamente bassi di metilmercurio nella dieta del maschio bianco di ibis abbiano causato l’accoppiamento fra uccelli maschi, i quali sono finiti con lo snobbare le femmine. La conseguenza è che è stato generato un minor numero di pulcini.

Il metilmercurio è una forma di mercurio, il metallo che è liquido a temperatura ambiente ed è meglio conosciuto come argento vivo. Esso si infiltra nelle acque sotterranee a causa degli sversamenti dell’industria che inquina il terreno per anni. Questo è il primo studio scientifico a dimostrare come l’inquinante sembra alterare la preferenza sessuale.

Per avere la prova di questo fenomeno, il ricercatore statunitense Peter Frederick ha catturato 160 giovani ibis bianchi, e ha dato loro cibo condito con metilmercurio. Gli uccelli sono stati suddivisi in quattro gruppi. Un gruppo ha mangiato cibi con 0,3 parti per milione (ppm) di metilmercurio, che è considerato negli Stati Uniti una quantità elevata per il consumo umano. Un secondo gruppo è stato alimentato con 0,1 ppm, ed il terzo 0,05 ppm, a basse dosi come quelle a cui gli uccelli selvatici sarebbero esposti di frequente. Il quarto gruppo ha ricevuto cibo senza veleno.

Tutti e tre i gruppi con il dosaggio hanno fatto registrare significativamente più maschi omosessuali rispetto al gruppo non “avvelenato”. Le coppie maschio-maschio si corteggiavano, costruivano nidi e si accoppiavano per diverse settimane. Dosi più elevate aumentavano l’effetto, con il 55% dei maschi che si trovavano nel gruppo con 0,3 ppm. Nel complesso, l’accoppiamento maschio-maschio è stato registrato nell’81% dei nidi improduttivi nei gruppi trattati.

Sapevamo che il mercurio potrebbe ridurre i livelli di testosterone, ma non ci aspettavamo questo. Nel peggiore dei casi, la produzione dei pulcini si è ridotta del 50%. Altri uccelli sarebbero probabilmente colpiti in misura simile

ha spiegato il dottor Frederick dell’Università della Florida, il quale però ha ammesso che non era affatto chiaro se il metilmercurio possa essere legato ad effetti analoghi nei mammiferi.

[Fonte: Daily Mail]

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