Avian Research最新文献

{"title":"The clutch size, incubation behavior of Reeves's Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) and their responses to ambient temperature and precipitation","authors":"Ting Jin ,&nbsp;Shuai Lu ,&nbsp;Yunqi Wang ,&nbsp;Junqin Hua ,&nbsp;Zhengxiao Liu ,&nbsp;Qian Hu ,&nbsp;Yating Liu ,&nbsp;Yuze Zhao ,&nbsp;Jianqiang Li ,&nbsp;Jiliang Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100168","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100168","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Weather conditions play a pivotal role in embryo development and parental incubation costs, potentially impacting the clutch size and incubation behavior of birds. Understanding these effects is crucial for bird conservation. Reeves's Pheasant (<em>Syrmaticus reevesii</em>) is a threatened species endemic to China, which is characterized by female-only incubation. However, there is a lack of information regarding the impact of weather conditions on clutch size and incubation behavior in this species. Using satellite tracking, we tracked 27 wild female Reeves's Pheasants from 2020 to 2023 in Hubei Province, China. We explored their clutch size and incubation behavior, as well as their responses to ambient temperature and precipitation. Clutch size averaged 7.75 ± 1.36, had an association with average ambient temperature and average daily precipitation during the egg-laying period, and was potentially linked to female breeding attempts. Throughout the incubation period, females took an average of 0.73 ± 0.46 recesses every 24 h, with an average recess duration of 100.80 ± 73.37 min and an average nest attendance of 92.98 ± 5.27%. They showed a unimodal recess pattern in which nest departures peaked primarily between 13:00 and 16:00. Furthermore, females rarely left nests when daily precipitation was high. Recess duration and nest attendance were influenced by the interaction between daily mean ambient temperature and daily precipitation, as well as day of incubation. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between clutch size and recess duration. These results contribute valuable insights into the life-history features of this endangered species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000112/pdfft?md5=fda23e95a1a1e1e20b6c828c09b26675&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000112-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140004739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effect of Common Cuckoo parasitism on the annual productivity of a host population","authors":"Alfréd Trnka","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100181","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Avian interspecific brood parasitism is an excellent system for studying coevolutionary processes in nature because brood parasites directly affect host reproductive success. Most research on avian brood parasitism has, therefore, focused primarily on specific host anti-parasite behaviours and parasite counter-adaptations. However, the population-level consequences of brood parasitism for host species are poorly understood. This study investigated the effect of Common Cuckoo (<em>Cuculus canorus</em>) parasitism on the productivity of a local population of the Great Reed Warbler (<em>Acrocephalus arundinaceus</em>) host in south-western Slovakia. A total of 495 females nesting at the studied site successfully fledged 1321 of their own young and 63 young of the Common Cuckoo over the course of 15 years (2008–2022), and the annual rate of successful parasitism ranged from 18% to 44% over this period. As predicted, higher rates of successful cuckoo parasitism significantly reduced the annual productivity of the local Great Reed Warbler population, and its contribution to decreased host reproductive success was at about the same rate as overall nest failure caused by predation and other environmental factors. Such a heavily parasitized population was probably maintained by immigrants from other populations and density-dependent selection, which is also consistent with source–sink dynamics. However, further long-term studies monitoring parasitized populations are required to confirm these findings.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000240/pdfft?md5=def2b55c88b02691172e95fce79169a6&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000240-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140901822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tri-axial accelerometry allows to determine parental food provisioning behaviour in a marine bird","authors":"Monserrat Del Caño ,&nbsp;Flavio Quintana ,&nbsp;Giacomo Dell’Omo ,&nbsp;Agustina Gómez-Laich","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100194","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100194","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The study of parental food provisioning is essential for understanding the breeding ecology of birds. We conducted the first study using accelerometry to detect food provisioning in birds, using Support Vector Machine (SVM) models to identify when adults feed chicks of three different age classes. Accelerometers were attached to the head of adult female Imperial Shags (<em>Leucocarbo atriceps</em>), and various attributes derived from the acceleration signals were used to train SVM models for each chick age class. Model performance improved with chick age class, with SVM models achieving high overall accuracy (&gt;88%) and highest sensitivity in older chick categories (&gt;91%). However, precision values, especially for younger chicks, remained relatively low (between 26% and 45%). The application of a time filter based on the minimum duration of the observed food provisioning behaviours for each chick age category, improved model performance by reducing false provisioning behaviours, particularly in the model for older chicks, which showed the highest precision (72.4%). This study highlights the effectiveness of accelerometry and machine learning in studying parental food provisioning in birds, providing a rapid and accurate data collection method to complement traditional techniques. The described methodology can be applied to any bird species that exhibits distinctive movements while feeding its offspring and has suitable characteristics for attaching an accelerometer to the body part that best captures this movement. Finally, it is hoped that the results of this study will contribute to future research on key questions in parental investment theory and reproductive strategies in birds.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000379/pdfft?md5=520019a2a9e5180acb08b9934564476d&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000379-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141605507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Highly divergent sympatric lineages of Leptotila verreauxi (Aves: Columbidae) suggest a secondary contact area in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico","authors":"Orlando J. Espinosa-Chávez ,&nbsp;Adolfo G. Navarro-Sigüenza ,&nbsp;Hernando Rodríguez-Correa ,&nbsp;Luis A. Sánchez-González","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100160","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100160","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Due to a complex geological and biotic history, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (IT), has been long recognized as a driver for the evolutionary divergence of numerous lowland and highland taxa. Widely distributed in the lowlands of the American continent, the White-Tipped Dove (<em>Leptotila verreauxi</em>) is a polytypic species with 13 recognized subspecies. Four of these have been recorded in Mexico, and the distribution of three abuts at the IT, suggesting a contact zone. To estimate phylogenetic patterns, divergence times and genetic differentiation, we examined two mtDNA (ND2 and COI) and one nDNA (<em>β</em>-fibint 7) markers. We also used correlative ecological niche models (ENM) to assess whether ecological differences across the IT may have acted as a biogeographical boundary. We estimated paleodistributions during the Middle Holocene, Last Glacial Maximum and Last Interglacial, to evaluate the influence of climate changes on the distribution and demographic changes. Our results showed genetically distinct lineages that diverged approximately 2.5 million years ago. Climatic and ecological factors may have played a dual role in promoting differentiation, but also in the formation of a secondary contact zone in the southern IT. Our ecological niche comparisons indicated that the ecological niche of sympatric lineages at the IT are not identical, suggesting niches divergence; in addition, environmental niche models across the region indicated no abrupt biogeographic barriers, but the presence of regions with low suitability. These results suggest that genetic differentiation originated by a vicariant event probably related to environmental factors, favored the evolution of different ecological niches. Also, the absence of a biogeographic barrier but the presence of less suitable areas in the contact regions, suggest that secondary contact zones may be also maintained by climatic factors for the eastern group, but also by biotic interactions for the western group.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000033/pdfft?md5=5a80738d6ffc5ee23bb476c2c9d76e63&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000033-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139875237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bird species present in urban parks are more colorful than urban avoiders: A test in the Argentinian Pampas","authors":"Lucas M. Leveau","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100161","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100161","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Bird plumage color has been assessed as a possible trait driving the presence of bird species in urban areas. Although some species can see the ultraviolet (UV) spectrum, the mentioned studies did not take into account UV reflectance when characterizing bird plumage. This study aimed to use a recent database of the colorfulness in passerines that incorporated the UV spectrum to compare bird colorfulness and other traits between urban parks and rural areas in Central-East Argentina. Birds in urban parks were surveyed in 51 parks in 6 cities during breeding and non-breeding seasons. A list of Passeriformes species from parks was created, and a list of urban avoider species was created from the bibliography. Species traits were body mass, clutch size, migratory status, nesting site, diet and habitat breadth, and plumage colorfulness. A total of 85 species were detected in the regional pool, of which 30 species were detected in urban parks. Bird species present in urban parks were more colorful than bird species only present in rural areas. In addition, bird presence in urban parks was positively related to their regional frequency and diet breadth. Moreover, urban presence was related to nesting on trees and buildings, whereas species not present in urban parks nested on the ground. The results obtained showed that bird color is significantly associated with presence of bird species in urban parks.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000045/pdfft?md5=9641f9ccd3bbbc28d1a42665792106d0&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000045-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139892941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) and Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) prefer shells for nesting: A field experiment","authors":"Macarena Castro ,&nbsp;Andrés De la Cruz ,&nbsp;Nuria Martin-Sanjuan ,&nbsp;Alejandro Pérez-Hurtado","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100158","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100158","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Shorebird populations are declining worldwide, mainly due to human disturbances and loss of coastal wetlands. However, supratidal habitats as saltpans could play a role in buffering human impact. Saltpans have shown to be important as feeding or breeding sites of some shorebird species. A potential conservation strategy to increase shorebird populations in saltpans is to manipulate the cues that birds use to select optimal breeding habitat. Here it is hypothesized that shorebirds are attracted to bivalve shells due to the advantages they offer. Following this hypothesis, we supplemented a restored saltpan in 2019 and 2021 with bivalve shells, expecting an increase in the number of breeding birds’ nests. More than 75% of Kentish Plover (<em>Charadrius alexandrinus</em>) and Little Tern (<em>Sternula albifrons</em>) nests were found in patches with shells in both years. The best model for both species indicates that the presence of shells is the factor that most correlates with the location of nests. The probability of choosing one place over another to settle their nest increases in areas with an abundance of shells, double in the case of the Kentish Plover and triple in the case of the Little Tern. The result of this study may constitute a valuable tool for attracting birds to restored saltpans and could contribute to the success of expensive restoration projects where time is usually a constraint.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S205371662400001X/pdfft?md5=8ac5cbf2edb32eb64d09a780c664f96c&pid=1-s2.0-S205371662400001X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139517064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shallow sub-lakes are essential for sustaining the successful wintering of waterbirds in Poyang Lake, China","authors":"Mengjie Lu ,&nbsp;Zhen Zhang ,&nbsp;Peng Chen ,&nbsp;Changxin Xu ,&nbsp;Bin Gao ,&nbsp;Luzhang Ruan","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100178","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100178","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>For migratory waterbirds, the quality of wintering habitat is related to spring migration and successful breeding in the next year. The availability of food resources in the habitat is critical and varies within water levels. Although the water-level fluctuations in Poyang Lake have been extremely variable interannually in recent years, the wintering waterbird populations have remained relatively stable. Hence, the mechanism of maintaining the stability is worth exploring. This study aimed to compare the distribution of vegetation and herbivorous waterbirds in 2015–2016 and 2016–2017, focusing on three shallow sub-lakes and one main lake are. The results showed that the emergence of tubers and the growth of <em>Carex</em> spp. provided a continuous food supply and habitat for wintering waterbirds with a gradual decline in the water level. Shallow sub-lakes supported almost all of the tuber-eating waterbirds (1.42–1.62 × 10⁵) and most geese (1.34–1.53 × 10⁶). However, the main lake area, covered with <em>Persicaria hydropiper</em>, did not provide adequate and accessible food. This resulted in almost no distribution of tuber-eating waterbirds, with only a few geese congregating in early winter. Our results demonstrated that the shallow sub-lakes under human control provided a different environment from the main lake and are key to sustaining the successful wintering of hundreds of thousands of migratory waterbirds in Poyang Lake. Therefore, we recommend refining the anthropogenic management of the shallow sub-lakes to regulate the water level to ensure the carrying capacity of Poyang Lake.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000215/pdfft?md5=6e402b0f606702d2b60f6ac6b3aad45e&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000215-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141083961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Structural effects of reedbed grazing and its cessation on reed-nesting songbird densities","authors":"Thomas Pagnon ,&nbsp;Clémence Péchinot ,&nbsp;Léa Sgro ,&nbsp;Jérémie Demay ,&nbsp;Rémi Jullian ,&nbsp;Régis Gallais ,&nbsp;Brigitte Poulin ,&nbsp;Cyril Marmoex","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100182","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Reedbeds are crucial breeding habitats for vulnerable songbird species. Irrespective of their protection status, these habitats may be threatened by organic matter accumulation, progressively leading to structural homogenization and habitat succession towards woodland. Managers prevent excessive litter build-up with various interventions opening-up the reedbeds, such as grazing, which may be detrimental or suitable for some reed bird species. We assessed the effects of extensive grazing by horses and its cessation in the medium and long terms on reedbed structure, and the consequences on reed-nesting songbird densities in Estagnol Nature Reserve, a protected wetland near the French Mediterranean coast. We compared reedbed structural features between grazed, newly ungrazed and old-ungrazed plots. During nine years, we censused four songbird species in spring and collected water level data in the same survey plots. Grazing reduced reedbed extent, rejuvenated the vegetation with more short green stems on a thinner litter, and produced higher structural heterogeneity and discontinuity compared to long-lasting non grazing. Newly ungrazed plot showed intermediate effects. All surveyed songbird total densities were similar among plots while species numbers and densities differed. Grazed reedbed was more attractive to Moustached Warblers (<em>Acrocephalus melanopogon</em>) and Great Reed Warblers (<em>Acrocephalus arundinaceus</em>), likely due to the large edges and the high vegetation structural heterogeneity. However, Moustached Warblers were more negatively affected by higher water level in grazed reedbed, presumably because flooding prevents litter foraging. The newly ungrazed reedbed was not preferred by any species. All warbler species were found under low density in the old-ungrazed reedbed, where Reed Buntings (<em>Emberiza schoeniclus</em>) were exclusively found. Food availability related to thick litter layer may explain this predilection. Common Reed Warblers (<em>Acrocephalus scirpaceus</em>) were found everywhere in similar densities. We conclude that reedbed management by extensive horse grazing and also its long-term cessation may benefit several songbird species. Within a context of wetland degradation and disappearance, both management strategies are useful to establish and maintain suitable habitats for reed-nesting songbird communities.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716624000252/pdfft?md5=0940a354defe6e6e6409f0b50a26ba07&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716624000252-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141097373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genetic benefits of female from extra-pair paternity are context dependent within the socially monogamous Tree Sparrow","authors":"Wenzhi Yang ,&nbsp;Yue Shen ,&nbsp;Yuquan Miao ,&nbsp;Zhaocun Lin ,&nbsp;Yingmei Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100203","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100203","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Females actively seek extra-pair paternity (EPP) to acquire a fitness advantage for their offspring. The “context-dependence hypothesis” posits that female extra-pair mate choice has plasticity in response to environmental conditions, and therefore magnitude of female genetic benefits from EPP depends on the environmental variation. Furthermore, chronic heavy metal pollution can cause adverse effects on fitness-related traits of wild birds. However, few studies were available on the interactions between heavy metal pollution and EPP. We selected an area that was contaminated by heavy metals for more than 60 years (Baiyin, BY), a relatively unpolluted area (Liujiaxia, LJX), and Tree Sparrows (<em>Passer montanus</em>) as study species to explore the response of female extra-pair mate choice and genetic benefits from EPP to heavy metal pollution in socially monogamous birds. The relatedness between social mates and extra-pair mates was investigated. Additionally, we compared the body size and heterozygosity of extra-pair offspring (EPO), within-pair offspring (WPO), social males and extra-pair males from the two Tree Sparrow populations. We found that at BY, female Tree Sparrows tended to choose extra-pair males with larger body size and lower genetic similarity, thereby producing higher heterozygosity and larger body size of EPO compared with those of WPO. However, no similar phenomenon was observed in the Tree Sparrow population from LJX. In addition, there was a significant interaction between population and paternity in the analyses of the fitness-related traits, suggesting that environmental variation could affect female genetic benefits from EPP. This study confirmed the existence of presumed interactions between environmental pollution and EPP within the natural population of socially monogamous Tree Sparrows. Our findings shed lights on the possible effects of long-term environmental stress on mating system in wild birds.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S205371662400046X/pdfft?md5=329ca4f6bc79b5dba92a9f1959860881&pid=1-s2.0-S205371662400046X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142083174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Endochondral ossification of hindlimbs in embryonic development of Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica)","authors":"Xuan Li,&nbsp;Yuxin Zhang,&nbsp;Hongfeng Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100152","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.avrs.2023.100152","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The endochondral ossification of hindlimb is essential to a bird's ability to stand, walk and fly. Most hindlimb is ossified in the embryos before hatching in precocial birds. However, the molecular mechanisms of hindlimb ossification in birds is still unclear. Therefore, we tried to examine the process of hindlimb ossification and its molecular regulation by using an animal model—Japanese Quail (<em>Coturnix japonica</em>). We selected four critical stages (Embryo Day: E6, E8, E12 and E16) of skeletal development of embryonic quails for hindlimb skeleton staining to show the process of endochondral ossification and to examine the molecular regulation of endochondral osteogenesis by RNA-Seq analysis. The results showed that ossification became increased with embryonic development and most hindlimb was ossified before hatching. RNA-Seq analysis revealed that various signaling pathways were involved with endochondral ossification with thyroid hormone signaling and WNT signaling pathway particularly enriched. Moreover, the expression levels of 42 genes were continuously upregulated and 14 genes were continuously downregulated from E6 to E16. The present study might provide new insights into complex molecular mechanisms in regulation of endochondral ossification.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51311,"journal":{"name":"Avian Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2053716623000786/pdfft?md5=b2b860372c46243ccd63762f08e37150&pid=1-s2.0-S2053716623000786-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138562871","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}