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Frozen sperm yields Okinawa rail embryos, but no chick hatches
Researchers working on the Okinawa rail, an endangered flightless bird, report that frozen sperm was used to produce embryos that developed, but the chick did not hatch, according to Phys.org.
The species and its recovery
The Okinawa rail, known scientifically as Hypotaenidia okinawae, is an endangered flightless bird found only in the Yanbaru forest region of Okinawa Island in Japan.
The population has only recently started to recover. It had been reduced by introduced predators such as the mongoose, as well as by traffic accidents, to as few as 820 individuals.
Open questions
- Why did the chick fail to hatch after the embryo developed?