Female-specific restriction fragments revealed by DNA fingerprinting and implications for extra-pair fertilisations in the short-tailed shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris : Procellariiformes: Procellariidae)

We report a female-specific restriction fragment in the DNA fingerprints of short-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus tenuirostris) that hybridises to a derivative of the human multilocus minisatellite probe 33.6. This genetic method of assigning sex has relevance to studies of population biology, reproductive success and mating systems in this species. The presence or absence of the female-specific restriction fragment has allowed us to reinterpret results from a previous DNA fingerprinting study of mating systems in the short-tailed shearwater. © Australian Journal of Zoology.