Mercury causes homosexuality in male ibises

Read the full story in Nature.

Exposure to mercury pollution could be hitting some wild birds' reproductive prospects hard by causing males to pair with other males.

Citation for the study referenced in the article is Frederick, P. and Jayasena, N. "Altered pairing behaviour and reproductive success in white ibises exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of methylmercury." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, online before print December 1, 2010. Online at http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/11/24/rspb.2010.2189.abstract.