A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF POSTNATAL-GROWTH AND ORGAN DEVELOPMENT IN SOME SPECIES OF BIRDS

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 47  (4) , 317-339
Abstract
To determine if the rate at which postnatal growth proceeds is at least partly determined by the distribution of growth between different organs, studies of organ growth were undertaken in some birds with widely varying growth rate capacities (geese, quail [Coturnix coturnix japonica], turkeys, fieldfares [Turdus pilaris] and jackdaws [Corvus monedula]). With regard to nidifugous birds, the data show that the growth pattern of the goose, a species which has a high growth rate capacity, is characterized by a rapid early development of the digestive organs and the liver; that of the quail and the turkey, species which have low growth rate capacities, is characterized by a rapid early development of the pectorals and the feathers. Growth pattern of the nidicolous species, the fieldfare and the jackdaw, which also show high growth rate capacities, is similar to that of the goose. Results are in close agreement with the hypothesis.