Can a Y chromosome degenerate in an evolutionary instant? A commentary on Fong et al. 2023.

It is well known that the Y chromosomes of Drosophila and mammals, and the W chromosomes of birds carry only small fractions of the genes carried by the homologous X or Z chromosomes, and this "genetic degeneration"is associated with loss of recombination between the sex chromosome pair. However, it is still not known how much evolutionary time is needed to reach such nearly complete degeneration. The XY pair of species in a group of closely related poecilid fish are homologous, but have been found to have either non-degenerated, or completely degenerated, Y chromosomes. We evaluate evidence described in a recent paper, and show that the available data cast doubt on the view that degeneration has been extraordinarily rapid in the latter (Micropoecilia species).