Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Male Australian zebra finches begin to sing at puberty, while females lack a singing ability. [17] This is due to a developmental difference, where in the embryo, the male zebra finch produces testosterone, which is transformed into estradiol in the brain, which in turn leads to the development of the nervous system for a song system. [24]
The Australian zebra finch is used worldwide in several research fields (e.g. neurobiology, physiology, behaviour, ecology and evolution) as individuals are easy to maintain and breed in captivity. [12] Zebra finches are more social than many migratory birds, generally traveling in small bands and sometimes gathering in larger groups. [13]
Alternatively, the distribution of male and female tissue can be more haphazard. Bilateral gynandromorphy arises very early in development, typically when the organism has between 8 and 64 cells. [25] Later stages produce a more random pattern. [citation needed] A notable example in birds is the zebra finch.
In one experimental population of zebra finches, there was increased singing activity by the male after breeding. [9] This increase is positively correlated with the partner's reproductive investment. The female finches were bred in cages with two subsequent males that differed with varying amounts of song output.
[2] [22] When male and female European starlings are trained to recognize conspecific song, there is an associated change in the response of CMM neurons, [28] and female zebra finches experience a reduced ability to discriminate between conspecific and heterospecific song following lesions to the region. [29]
Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) at the Essehof Zoo in Germany. Only male zebra finches sing. [4] Each finch has an individual song. [4] Between the ages of 25 and 90 days old, young zebra finches learn to sing by copying the songs of adults, and sometimes by copying the songs of other juveniles.
Arnold's study of a gynandromorphic (half genetic male, half genetic female) zebra finch suggested that not all sex differences in brain and behavior are caused by gonadal hormones, as had been believed. [1]
The ZW sex-determination system is a chromosomal system that determines the sex of offspring in birds, some fish and crustaceans such as the giant river prawn, some insects (including butterflies and moths), the schistosome family of flatworms, and some reptiles, e.g. majority of snakes, lacertid lizards and monitors, including Komodo dragons.