title: True hermaphroditism in a wild sheep: A clinical report.
abstract: Intersexuality in sheep is rare, with the freemartin anomaly being the most common. We describe here a true hermaphrodite in a wild sheep. An F(1) wild sheep ewe of Argali-mouflon X Mexican desert bighorn breeding was bred to an F(1) ram of the same breeding. A single lamb was born with the external appearance of a normal female. The lamb grew faster than its female cohorts, and by 6 months of age exhibited the aggressive behavior, size, coloration and horn development associated with males. Phenotypically, the intersex had female external genitalia with an enlarged clitoris. A human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) response test was performed when the intersex was 1-year-old and serum testosterone, progesterone and estradiol levels were compared to the response of a normal female and male of similar age and breeding. An exploratory celiotomy revealed two gonadal-like structures associated with a female reproductive tract. Histopathology of the structures revealed spermatogenically inactive testicular vessels and ovarian tissue with primary follicles. The reproductive tract was complete with two uterine horns and a cervix. The intersexuality is attributed to an XX/XXY mosaic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal, Dairy and Veterinary Sciences Utah State University Logan UT 84322-4815, USA.
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Bunch
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Callan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maciulis
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kunzler
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Olson