zebra finch
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2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boglárka Morvai ◽  
Emese Alexandra Fazekas ◽  
Ádám Miklósi ◽  
Ákos Pogány

Parental care plays a central, reinforcing role in the evolution of sex roles and its development is often reported to be driven by genetic, rather than environmental effects. Based on these studies, however, genetic inheritance does not account fully for the often-significant phenotypic variability observed within species, a variation that we hypothesized may be explained by social effects from parents. Following a full cross-fostering design, here we aimed at disentangling genetic and social parental effects in the ontogeny of parental behaviours. Clutches of eggs were swapped, and we monitored parental behaviours in two consecutive generations of a captive population of the socially monogamous, biparental zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Using nest box cameras, parental behaviour was recorded for 3 h in two reproductive stages: on day 8 of incubation and day 10 post-hatching. These fostered birds, after becoming fully matured, received a pair randomly and we observed parental care of this second generation too, following the same protocol. We then compared various parental behaviours (such as time spent incubating, or number of nest attendances during offspring provisioning) in the second generation to those of their genetic and social parents. Based on the results of our experiment, both genetic and social effects can contribute to intergenerational transmission of specific parental behaviours, with various weights. However, the strongest and most consistent effect that we found is that of the current mate; a social effect that can manifest both in negative and positive directions, depending on the behavioural trait. Our study suggests context-specific and sexually different genetic, social and non-social environmental effects in the ontogeny of parental sex roles and outline the importance of parental negotiation in explaining individual variation of parental behaviour in biparental species.


Ethology ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carrie Easter ◽  
Andrew Rowlands ◽  
Christopher Hassall ◽  
William Hoppitt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Ishigohoka ◽  
Karen Bascón-Cardozo ◽  
Andrea Bours ◽  
Janina Fuß ◽  
Arang Rhie ◽  
...  

The patterns of genetic relatedness among individuals vary along the genome, representing fluctuation of local ancestry. The factors responsible for this variation have not been well studied in wild animals with ecological and behavioural relevance. Here, we characterise the genomic architecture of genetic relatedness in the Eurasian blackcap, an iconic songbird species in ecology and quantitative genetics of migratory behaviour. We identify 23 genomic regions with deviated local relatedness patterns, using a chromosome-level de novo assembly of the blackcap genome and whole-genome resequencing data of 179 individuals from nine populations with diverse migratory phenotypes. Five genomic regions show local relatedness patterns of polymorphic inversions, three of which are syntenic to polymorphic inversions known in the zebra finch. Phylogenetic analysis reveals these three polymorphic inversions evolved independently in the blackcap and zebra finch indicating convergence of polymorphic inversions. Population genetic analyses in these three inversions in the blackcap suggest balancing selection between two haplotypes in one locus and background selection in the other two loci. One genomic region with deviated local relatedness is under selection against gene flow by population-specific reduction in recombination rate. Other genomic islands including 11 pericentromeric regions consist of evolutionarily conserved and non-conserved recombination cold-spots under background selection. Two of these regions with non-conserved recombination suppression are known to be associated with population-specific migratory phenotypes, where local relatedness patterns support additional effects of population-specific selection. These results highlight how different forms of recombination suppression and selection jointly affect heterogeneous genomic landscape of local ancestries.


Author(s):  
Kyung Min Jung ◽  
Minseok Seo ◽  
Young Min Kim ◽  
Jin Lee Kim ◽  
Jae Yong Han

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are undifferentiated gametes with heterogeneity, an evolutionarily conserved characteristic across various organisms. Although dynamic selection at the level of early germ cell populations is an important biological feature linked to fertility, the heterogeneity of PGCs in avian species has not been characterized. In this study, we sought to evaluate PGC heterogeneity in zebra finch using a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) approach. Using scRNA-seq of embryonic gonadal cells from male and female zebra finches at Hamburger and Hamilton (HH) stage 28, we annotated nine cell types from 20 cell clusters. We found that PGCs previously considered a single population can be separated into three subtypes showing differences in apoptosis, proliferation, and other biological processes. The three PGC subtypes were specifically enriched for genes showing expression patterns related to germness or pluripotency, suggesting functional differences in PGCs according to the three subtypes. Additionally, we discovered a novel biomarker, SMC1B, for gonadal PGCs in zebra finch. The results provide the first evidence of substantial heterogeneity in PGCs previously considered a single population in birds. This discovery expands our understanding of PGCs to avian species, and provides a basis for further research.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Anthony Meilak ◽  
Pauline Provini ◽  
Colin Palmer ◽  
Neil J Gostling ◽  
Markus O Heller

Although extant land birds take to the air by leaping, generating the initial take-off velocity primarily from the hindlimbs, the detailed musculoskeletal mechanics remain largely unknown. We therefore simulated in silico the take-off leap of the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, a model species of passerine, a class of bird which includes over half of all extant bird species. A 3D computational musculoskeletal model of the zebra finch hindlimb, comprising of 43 musculotendon units was developed and driven with previously published take-off ground reaction forces and kinematics. Using inverse dynamics, the external moments at the ankle, knee, and hip joints were calculated and contrasted to the cumulative muscle capability to balance these moments. Mean peak external flexion moments at the hip and ankle were 0.55 bodyweight times leg length (BWL) each whilst peak knee extension moments were about half that value (0.29 BWL). Muscles had the capacity to generate 146%, 230%, and 212 % of the mean peak external moments at the hip, knee, and ankle, respectively. Similarities in hindlimb morphology and external loading across passerine species suggest that the effective take-off strategy employed by the zebra finch may be shared across the passerine clade and therefore half of all birds.


Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 989
Author(s):  
Pei-Lin Chiang ◽  
Yu-Chien Tseng ◽  
Hsiao-Jou Wu ◽  
Shu-Han Tsao ◽  
Shang-Ping Wu ◽  
...  

We analyze 700 freshly-laid eggs from 58 species (22 families and 13 orders) across three orders of magnitude in egg mass. We study the elastic moduli using three metrics: (i) effective Young’s modulus, EFEM, by a combined experimental and numerical method; (ii) elastic modulus, Enano, by nanoindentation, and (iii) theoretical Young’s modulus, Etheory. We measure the mineral content by acid-base titration, and crystallographic characteristics by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), on representative species. We find that the mineral content ranges between 83.1% (Zebra finch) and 96.5% (ostrich) and is positively correlated with EFEM—23.28 GPa (Zebra finch) and 47.76 GPa (ostrich). The EBSD shows that eggshell is anisotropic and non-homogeneous, and different species have different degrees of crystal orientation and texture. Ostrich eggshell exhibits strong texture in the thickness direction, whereas chicken eggshell has little. Such anisotropy and inhomogeneity are consistent with the nanoindentation tests. However, the crystal characteristics do not appear to correlate with EFEM, as EFEM represents an overall “average” elasticity of the entire shell. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical prediction of linear elasticity. Our comprehensive investigation into the elastic moduli of avian eggshell over broad taxonomic scales provides a useful dataset for those who work on avian reproduction.


Author(s):  
Matthew T. Davis ◽  
Kathleen E. Grogan ◽  
Isabel Fraccaroli ◽  
Timothy J. Libecap ◽  
Natalie R. Pilgeram ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Jake V Aronowitz ◽  
John R Kirn ◽  
Carolyn L Pytte ◽  
Gloster B Aaron

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