Sex ratio

Refers to the proportion of males to females in a given population, usually expressed as the number of males per 100 females. Three types of ratios are distinguished: primary sex ratio (assessed immediately after fertilization), secondary sex ratio (assessed at birth or hatching), and tertiary sex ratio (assessed at maturity, and giving a ratio in which …

Sex

In biology, it takes on two meanings: 1. heterogametic sex: the gender that has two different sex chromosomes (e.g.,  in humans, the male is heterogametic because he has an X and a Y chromosome, while in avian species , the female is heterogametic because she has a W and a Z chromosome); 2.  homogametic sex: the …

Sevenless

A receptor tyrosine kinase involved in signalling the fate of a photoreceptor.  See Boss (or bride of seven less), Developmental genetics, Ras, R7 and R8 photoreceptors, Tyrosine kinase receptor/pathway

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5HT)

An indoleamine found in plants and animals, and that with dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, acetylcholine and histamine, it is one of the biogenic amine neurotransmitters or neuromodulators. They are widely dispersed through the brain, but are particularly dense in the cortex. There are at least seven different types of serotonin receptors in the brain, the majority of …

Serial homology (or homonomy)

Originally termed a homotypy by Ernst H. Haeckel (1834-1919) that great coiner of neologisms, it refers to similarities in repetitive or serial structures within the same organism.  Examples include the arms and legs of humans or among the branches and leaves of a tree.  A more complex example is the jointed appendages of anthropoids.  In …