Various biological attributes associated with individual fitness in animals change predictably
over the lifespan of an organism. Therefore, the study of animal ecology and the work of …

Organismal adaptations are the hallmark of natural selection. Studies of adaptations in avian
systems have been central to key conceptual and empirical advances in the field of …

Microchromosomes, once considered unimportant shreds of the chicken genome, are gene-
rich elements with a high GC content and few transposable elements. Their origin has been …

Timing is a crucial aspect for survival and reproduction in seasonal environments leading to
carefully scheduled annual programs of migration in many species. But what are the exact …

Changes in chromosomal structure involving chromosomal rearrangements or copy number
variation of specific sequences can play an important role in speciation. Here, we explored …

Birds (Aves) are the most speciose of terrestrial vertebrates, displaying Class-specific
characteristics yet incredible external phenotypic diversity. Critical to agriculture and as …

The white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, is a passerine bird with a wide
distribution and it is extensively adapted to environmental changes. It has historically acted …

We report on a major update to the animal rDNA loci database, which now contains
cytogenetic information for 45S and 5S rDNA loci in more than 2600 and 1000 species …

Songbirds have one special accessory chromosome, the so-called germline-restricted
chromosome (GRC), which is only present in germline cells and absent from all somatic …

Interchromosomal rearrangements involving microchromosomes are rare events in birds. To
date, they have been found mostly in Psittaciformes, Falconiformes, and Cuculiformes …