Incidence of Sex Chromatin in Gallus domesticus

The presence of so-called sex chromatin has been demonstrated in the interphase nuclei of the cells of the domestic chicken ( Gallus domesticus ). Definite sex dimorphism was observed for the incidence of this nuclear component; the frequency of its occurrence in females was at least ten times that of its occurrence in the males, ranging from 22 percent in the duodenal muscle cells to 52 percent in the epidermal cells of a growing feather.