SRY

SRY is a sex-determining gene found on the Y chromosome of male humans and male members of some other animal species.

SRY is an important component of the XY sex-determination system in these animals.

SRY is not the only male-determining gene in mammals, or even the most common: most non-primate mammals use a different Y-chromosome gene, UBE1, for this purpose. Also, two species of "mole voles", Ellobius tancrei and E. lutescens, have lost the Y chromosome entirely. In one species, both sexes have unpaired X chromosomes; in the other, both females and males have XX.