Egg size predicts motor performance and postnatal weight gain of Australian Brush-turkey (Alectura lathami) hatchlings

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 972-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Göth ◽  
Christopher S Evans
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Heat Sources ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
Tarsus Length ◽  
Detection Software ◽  
Alectura Lathami ◽  
Postnatal Weight Gain

Birds usually influence offspring survival through the amount of parental care they provide. Megapodes have evolved a different life history. Eggs are incubated by external heat sources, and chicks dig themselves out of their underground nest and live independently of their parents. Egg size is one of the few means by which females can influence chick survival. We found that in the Australian Brush-turkey, Alectura lathami Gray, 1831, eggs and hatchlings varied considerably in size, with a ratio of 1.62 between the largest and the smallest egg. Egg size was positively correlated with hatchling body mass and tarsus length. It also significantly predicted the chicks' motor performance: chicks from larger eggs dug their way out of their underground nest faster and were more active when kept in a resting box and monitored by motion detection software. The main advantage of reaching the surface more quickly is likely that such chicks will have more time to find suitable food, refuge, and a tree for roosting at night while still feeding on their internal yolk reserves. Egg size also interacted significantly with body mass during the first 10 months of life. A size advantage at hatching thus seems to have an immediate effect on motor performance and a longer term effect on the ability to gain mass.

scholarly journals An immune challenge of female great tits decreases offspring survival and has sex-specific effects on offspring body size

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-181
Author(s):  
Justyna Kubacka ◽  
Mariusz Cichoń
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Saline Control ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
Tarsus Length ◽  
Terminal Investment ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Structural Growth ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Investment in immunity is expected to decrease (costly immunity) or enhance (terminal investment) reproductive performance. Here, we tested the effects of activation of the immune system in female great tits (Parus major) on (1) their reproductive effort and (2) the survival and body condition of their offspring, controlling for chick sex. We injected females tending 3-day-old chicks with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) or saline (control) and recorded their provisioning rates 6 days later, during the expected peak of antibody production. We measured tarsus length and body mass in 11-day-old chicks and monitored changes in brood size. We found that female provisioning rates were unaffected by the SRBC challenge. An analysis without an outlier, however, showed a significant challenge-by-hatch date interaction. This interaction indicated that female provisioning rates decreased with hatch dates in the SRBC but not in the control nests, suggesting a stronger effect in later breeders. Chick body mass was not affected by female immunisation nor by its interaction with chick sex. However, we found a significant challenge-by-sex interaction on offspring tarsus. In SRBC nests, the difference in tarsus length between male and female chicks was lower than in controls, suggesting sex-dependent effects of the challenge on offspring structural growth. Finally, chick mortality was greater in SRBC nests compared with controls, but chick survival probability was not affected by sex. Overall, our results support the costly immunity but not the terminal investment hypothesis in the great tit.

scholarly journals An Exploration of the Relationship of Body Mass Index with Motor Performance Measures and Quality of Life in Children Living in an Urban Setting

2016 ◽  
Vol 01 (04) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Fidler ◽  
Patrick McLaughlin ◽  
Deborah Bubela ◽  
Samantha E Scarneo ◽  
Jennifer McGarry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Comparison of Body Mass Index Class Against Motor Performance Towards 7-Year-Old Boys in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Faizatul Amira Binti Jibril ◽  
Mohamad Razali Abdullah ◽  
Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki ◽  
Intan Meily Puspitasari ◽  
Nur Amirah Nawi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Body Mass Index Class

scholarly journals Patterns of Growth in Nestling Indian Barn-Owls

The Condor ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 885-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajarathinavelu Nagarajan ◽  
Krishinamoorthy Thiyagesan ◽  
Rajagopalan Natarajan ◽  
Ramalingam Kanakasabai
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Body Length ◽  
Wing Length ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
The Body ◽  
Logistic Growth ◽  
Adult Size ◽  
Tyto Alba ◽  
Tarsus Length ◽  
Bill Length

Abstract We examined nestling growth patterns of the Indian Barn-Owl (Tyto alba stertens) in Tamilnadu, Southern India, with reference to body mass, body length, bill length, bill width, wing length, wingspan, tail length, tarsus length, and middle claw length. Body mass reached an asymptote of 447.0 ± 6.8 g during week 7, which was 10% higher than the adult mass. Then it significantly declined to 437.0 ± 10.9 g at fledging. At the end of week 4, the body length, bill length, bill width, tarsus length, and middle toe length had surpassed 50% of adult sizes. The wingspan and tarsus length reached almost adult size by the time of fledging. A logistic growth curve was found to be a good fit for all the growth variables and explained between 71% (wing length) and 86% (body length) of the variance. Patrones de Crecimiento en Polluelos de Tyto alba stertens Resumen. Examinamos los patrones de crecimiento de polluelos de Tyto alba stertens en Tamilnadu, sudoeste de India, en relación al peso y el largo del cuerpo, el largo y el ancho del pico, el largo del ala y su envergadura, y el largo de la cola, los tarsos y de la garra mediana. El peso corporal alcanzó una asíntota de 447.0 ± 6.8 g durante la séptima semana, el cual fue un 10% mayor que el peso de los adultos. Posteriormente, durante el período de volantones, el peso corporal disminuyó hasta 437.0 ± 10.9 g. Al final de la cuarta semana, el largo del cuerpo, el largo y el ancho del pico, y los largos del tarso y del dedo mediano habían sobrepasado el 50% de los tamaños adultos. La envergadura del ala y el largo del tarso casi alcanzaron tamaños adultos durante el período de volantones. Se encontró que una curva de crecimiento logístico se ajustó bien a todas las variables de crecimiento y explicó un 71% (largo del ala) y un 86% (largo del cuerpo) de la varianza.

Development of mound-building in Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami): the role of learning, testosterone and body mass

2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Göth ◽  
Lee Astheimer
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Parental Role ◽  
Behavioural Development ◽  
Dominance Status ◽  
Alectura Lathami

Australian brush-turkeys (Alectura lathami) hatch in incubation mounds of organic material and have no parental role models to learn from. When raised in outdoor aviaries, without adults, four of six males built incubation mounds at an early age of 4.5–9 months. The two males without mounds were the only ones without detectable levels of testosterone (T) at 4.5 months, whereas body mass did not explain the presence or absence of mound building. At the age of 11 months, all males had detectable T, including those without mounds. This study also investigated the development of social dominance in males kept in mixed-sex groups for 4.5 months. At this latter age, higher-ranked males tended to have higher T levels (P = 0.076), whereas dominance ranks at 4.5 months were not correlated with body mass or size, either at this age or at hatching. Overall, these results suggest that mound building develops without learning, and there is a relationship between T levels and dominance status as well as the absence or presence of mound building. These findings contribute to discussions on the role of learning in behavioural development and the role of T and body mass in avian life history.

Intraclutch egg-size variation and offspring survival in the Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus

Ibis ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUAN A. AMAT ◽  
ROSENDO M. FRAGA ◽  
GONZALO M. ARROYO
Keyword(s):  
Egg Size ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Charadrius Alexandrinus ◽  
Kentish Plover

Chick survival in the megapode Alectura lathami (Australian brush-turkey)

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Göth ◽  
Uwe Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Survival Time ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
Average Survival Time ◽  
Kaplan Meier ◽  
Average Survival ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Alectura Lathami ◽  
Breeding Seasons

Megapode chicks live independently from the time of hatching and are thus ideal subjects for investigations into how the lack of parental care can affect chick survival. Here, we present such results for chicks of the Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami), radio-tracked in two smallremnant rainforest patches (Mary Cairncross Rainforest Park and Aplin Forest) from their second day of life. Mortality was 88–100% during the first three weeks after hatching. It did not differ between two breeding seasons at Mary Cairncross Rainforest Park, as evident from comparisons of average survival time (in days) and Kaplan–Meier survival estimates. Survival differed, though, between the two sites in the same breeding season: the average survival time was significantly higher at Aplin Forest (8 days compared with 3�days) and the Kaplan–Meier survival estimates decreased less sharply. Predation by cats and birds of prey exerted the greatest influence on survival, but the proportion of deaths caused by these two predators was approximately the same at both sites. The main factor affecting survival was obviously the availability of thickets, which were more abundant at Aplin Forest. The survival rates of chicks released in thickets was significantly higher than of those released in the rainforest, presumably because they were better protected from predators. For chicks living in thickets the likelihood of being killed was lower than expected, but it was higher for those remaining in rainforest. On the basis of these results, we propose that management plans for endangered megapodes should include the identification and protection of large protective thicket habitats for enhancing overall chick survival, apart from controlling introduced predators such as feral cats.

Effects of parental quality and egg size on growth and survival of herring gull chicks

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 967-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
T S Risch ◽  
F C Rohwer
Keyword(s):  
Egg Size ◽  
Character Displacement ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Parental Quality ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Structural Growth ◽  
Experimental Treatments

We performed a clutch-transfer experiment with herring gulls (Larus argentatus) to quantify how parental attributes and egg size affect chick growth and survival. The quality of parents was assessed by their average egg mass. There was no association between hatching success and egg mass in either unmanipulated or experimental nests. Among experimental treatments, the high-quality parents had a significantly higher chick survival rate than low-quality parents in 1991 and when data from 1990 and 1991 were pooled. A positive effect of egg size on chick survival was apparent only when data from both years were pooled. Chicks raised by high-quality parents had higher structural growth rates (tarsus) than chicks raised by low-quality parents. We discount the likelihood for selection of larger eggs because egg size has trade-offs with other life-history traits that have a strong influence on fitness. Despite the correlation between parental quality and chick survival, we doubt that there is character displacement for greater parental quality. Parental quality is probably affected by nutrition and is expected to have low heritability.

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