Publications

intraspecific variation in testosterone-induced neuroplasticity in two canary strains.	temperate zone songbird species, such as the canary (serinus canaria), can serve as model systems to investigate adult seasonal plasticity in brain and behavior. an increase in day length, experienced by canaries in the early spring stimulates gonadal recrudescence and an associated increase in circulating testosterone concentrations. this increase in plasma testosterone results in marked morphological changes in well-defined neural circuitry regulating reproductive behaviors including birdsong ...	2020	31647924
experimental study of micro-habitat selection by ixodid ticks feeding on avian hosts.	mechanisms of on-host habitat selection of parasites are important to the understanding of host-parasite interactions and evolution. to this end, it is important to separate the factors driving parasite micro-habitat selection from those resulting from host anti-parasite behaviour. we experimentally investigated whether tick infestation patterns on songbirds are the result of an active choice by the ticks themselves, or the outcome of songbird grooming behaviour. attachment patterns of three ixo ...	2019	31734336
seasonal changes of perineuronal nets and song learning in adult canaries (serinus canaria).	songbirds learn their song during a sensitive period of development associated with enhanced neural plasticity. in addition, in open-ended learners such as canaries, a sensitive period for sensorimotor vocal learning reopens each year in the fall and leads to song modifications between successive breeding seasons. the variability observed in song production across seasons in adult canaries correlates with seasonal fluctuations of testosterone concentrations and with morphological changes in nucl ...	2020	31857148
genetic basis of de novo appearance of carotenoid ornamentation in bare parts of canaries.	unlike wild and domestic canaries (serinus canaria), or any of the three dozen species of finches in genus serinus, the domestic urucum breed of canaries exhibits bright red bills and legs. this novel trait offers a unique opportunity to understand the mechanisms of bare-part coloration in birds. to identify the mutation producing the colorful phenotype, we resequenced the genome of urucum canaries and performed a range of analyses to search for genotype-to-phenotype associations across the geno ...	2020	31930402
outbreak of systemic avian pox in canaries (serinus canaria domestica) associated with the b1 subgroup of avian pox viruses.	this study reports an outbreak of avian pox in a quarantine of canaries imported from europe, with a mortality of 30% and clinical signs of dyspnea and blepharoconjunctivitis. during necropsy, beak cyanosis, serous blepharitis, caseous sinusitis, oropharyngitis, tracheitis, pulmonary edema, pneumonia, fibrinous airsacculitis, and splenomegaly were observed. microscopically, edema, epithelial hyperplasia, hydropic degeneration, and vacuolated eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were fo ...	2019	31967439
experimental usutu virus infection in domestic canaries serinus canaria.	usutu virus (usuv) is a neurotropic flavivirus closely related to west nile virus (wnv). its enzootic cycle mainly involves mosquitoes and birds. human infection can occur with occasional, but sometimes severe, neurological complications. since its emergence and spread in europe over the last two decades, usuv has been linked to significant avian outbreaks, especially among passeriformes, including european blackbirds (turdus merula). strikingly, no in vivo avian model exists so far to study thi ...	2020	32023880
development of perineuronal nets during ontogeny correlates with sensorimotor vocal learning in canaries.	songbirds are a powerful model to study vocal learning given that aspects of the underlying behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms are analogous in many ways to mechanisms involved in speech learning. perineuronal nets (pnns) represent one of the mechanisms controlling the closing of sensitive periods for vocal learning in the songbird brain. in zebra finches, pnn develop around parvalbumin (pv)-expressing interneurons in selected song control nuclei during ontogeny and their development is d ...	2020	32169884
are offspring begging levels exaggerated beyond the parental optimum? evidence from a bidirectional selection experiment.	parental care involves elaborate behavioural interactions between parents and their offspring, with offspring stimulating their parents via begging to provision resources. thus, begging has direct fitness benefits as it enhances offspring growth and survival. it is nevertheless subject to a complex evolutionary trajectory, because begging may serve as a means for the offspring to manipulate parents in the context of evolutionary conflicts of interest. furthermore, it has been hypothesized that b ...	2020	32236996
dynamical model for the neural activity of singing serinus canaria.	vocal production in songbirds is a key topic regarding the motor control of a complex, learned behavior. birdsong is the result of the interaction between the activity of an intricate set of neural nuclei specifically dedicated to song production and learning (known as the "song system"), the respiratory system and the vocal organ. these systems interact and give rise to precise biomechanical motor gestures which result in song production. telencephalic neural nuclei play a key role in the produ ...	2020	32491906
isospora oliveirai n. sp. (chromista: miozoa: eimeriidae) from the greenish schiffornis schiffornis virescens (lafresnaye, 1838) (passeriformes: tyranni: tityridae) in south america.	coccidia are obligatory intracellular parasites with at least one intestinal phase in their life cycles, being isospora schneider, 1881 the main coccidian genus related to the order passeriformes. however, there is no record of isosporans from the passerine family tityridae, which is the family of the greenish schiffornis schiffornis virescens (lafresnaye, 1838).	2020	32494953
effects of inactivation of the periaqueductal gray on song production in testosterone-treated male canaries (serinus canaria).	male canaries (serinus canaria) display seasonal changes in the motivation to sing which have been found to be dependent on the action of testosterone (t). during the breeding season when t is high, males sing at a higher rate compared with males with low t. the effect of t on song rate is known to be mediated by the medial preoptic nucleus (pom); however, it is unclear how t signaling in pom impacts song production. one potential mechanism is via modulation of dopaminergic input into song contr ...	2020	32737183
sex-and region-dependent expression of the autism-linked adnp correlates with social- and speech-related genes in the canary brain.	the activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (adnp) syndrome is an autistic-like disorder, instigated by mutations in adnp. this syndrome is characterized by developmental delays, impairments in speech, motor function, abnormal hearing, and intellectual disabilities. in the adnp-haploinsufficient mouse model, many of these impediments are evident, appearing in a sex-dependent manner. in zebra finch songbird (zf; taeniopygia guttata), an animal model used for song/language studies, adnp mrna mo ...	2020	32926339