THYROIDECTOMY OF NESTLING STARLINGS APPEARS TO CAUSE NEOTENOUS SEXUAL MATURATION

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Abstract
Nestling starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were thyroidectomized, in the wild, when 8 days old. They were later brought into captivity and hand reared on a daylength of 16 h light: 8 h darkness per day. Thyroidectomy dramatically affected somatic development so that even at 23 weeks of age these birds retained the physical characteristics of approximately 3-week-old euthyroid birds. Nevertheless, they appeared to be healthy and were active. Despite retaining juvenile features, these thyroidectomized birds became sexually mature. In males, testicular growth began at 8 weeks of age and by 23 weeks both males and females had well developed gonads.