Animal Section - Birds

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ANIMAL SECTION - BIRDS GOULDIAN FINCH ABOUT The Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae) is a medium-sized bird that is only found in the northern savannas region of Australia. It is highly colorful, with a purple chest, yellow breast, and green back. The bird’s legs and feet are yellow and it sports a long pointed tail. Females are not as colorful as males, and young finches are a dull green. These finches can have black, red, or yellow faces. In the dry season, the birds remain in their breeding habitat of hilly woodlands, then move to a variety of woodland types in nearby lowland country during wet season. Late in the wet season, this species finds hollows for nesting to raise their young, preferring those formed by termites in northern white gum and salmon gum trees near water. The female lays four or more eggs and both parents are involved in raising the chicks. Three clutches of eggs can be laid in a season. They usually breed in the second part of the rainy season because there is plenty of grass seed and insects to eat. DID YOU KNOW? The Gouldian Finch is endangered in its natural habitat, however in captivity it is one of the most prized birds to have. In the past, populations were widely distributed, but they are confined now to isolated areas in the top end of the Northern Territory and Kimberley region of Western Australia. The bird relies on fire in the dry season to burn the undergrowth so they can find seeds on the ground. The greatest threat to this gorgeous bird is the changes to habitat as a result of changing fire patterns and grazing by cattle, horses and pigs, which affect their food source. In the wild these birds are quiet and like to be in unpopulated areas. Their diet during the wet season is seed from the perennial grass. During the dry season it eats seeds off the annual spear grass. John Gould discovered this finch and named the bird the Lady Gouldian Finch after his late wife –which has since been shortened. For more detailed information visit: www.wwf.org.au TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE Where in Australia is the Gouldian Finch found? a) Queensland b) The Barrier Reef c) Northern Territory and Kimberley region d) Kakadu National Park Answer is C © 2011. Days in the Country Environmental Education Foundation, Inc. (DITC-EEF, Inc.). All rights reserved. http://ditc-eef.org | [email protected] .

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Phylogeography of Finches and Sparrows
In: Animal Genetics ISBN: 978-1-60741-844-3 Editor: Leopold J. Rechi © 2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Chapter 1 PHYLOGEOGRAPHY OF FINCHES AND SPARROWS Antonio Arnaiz-Villena*, Pablo Gomez-Prieto and Valentin Ruiz-del-Valle Department of Immunology, University Complutense, The Madrid Regional Blood Center, Madrid, Spain. ABSTRACT Fringillidae finches form a subfamily of songbirds (Passeriformes), which are presently distributed around the world. This subfamily includes canaries, goldfinches, greenfinches, rosefinches, and grosbeaks, among others. Molecular phylogenies obtained with mitochondrial DNA sequences show that these groups of finches are put together, but with some polytomies that have apparently evolved or radiated in parallel. The time of appearance on Earth of all studied groups is suggested to start after Middle Miocene Epoch, around 10 million years ago. Greenfinches (genus Carduelis) may have originated at Eurasian desert margins coming from Rhodopechys obsoleta (dessert finch) or an extinct pale plumage ancestor; it later acquired green plumage suitable for the greenfinch ecological niche, i.e.: woods. Multicolored Eurasian goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) has a genetic extant ancestor, the green-feathered Carduelis citrinella (citril finch); this was thought to be a canary on phonotypical bases, but it is now included within goldfinches by our molecular genetics phylograms. Speciation events between citril finch and Eurasian goldfinch are related with the Mediterranean Messinian salinity crisis (5 million years ago). Linurgus olivaceus (oriole finch) is presently thriving in Equatorial Africa and was included in a separate genus (Linurgus) by itself on phenotypical bases. Our phylograms demonstrate that it is and old canary. Proposed genus Acanthis does not exist. Twite and linnet form a separate radiation from redpolls.
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Åberg et al. BMC Evolutionary Biology (2017) 17:177 DOI 10.1186/s12862-017-1023-y RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Evolution of the p53-MDM2 pathway Emma Åberg1, Fulvio Saccoccia1, Manfred Grabherr1, Wai Ying Josefin Ore1, Per Jemth1* and Greta Hultqvist1,2* Abstract Background: The p53 signalling pathway, which controls cell fate, has been extensively studied due to its prominent role in tumor development. The pathway includes the tumor supressor protein p53, its vertebrate paralogs p63 and p73, and their negative regulators MDM2 and MDM4. The p53/p63/p73-MDM system is ancient and can be traced in all extant animal phyla. Despite this, correct phylogenetic trees including both vertebrate and invertebrate species of the p53/p63/p73 and MDM families have not been published. Results: Here, we have examined the evolution of the p53/p63/p73 protein family with particular focus on the p53/ p63/p73 transactivation domain (TAD) and its co-evolution with the p53/p63/p73-binding domain (p53/p63/p73BD) of MDM2. We found that the TAD and p53/p63/p73BD share a strong evolutionary connection. If one of the domains of the protein is lost in a phylum, then it seems very likely to be followed by loss of function by the other domain as well, and due to the loss of function it is likely to eventually disappear. By focusing our phylogenetic analysis to p53/p63/ p73 and MDM proteins from phyla that retain the interaction domains TAD and p53/p63/p73BD, we built phylogenetic trees of p53/p63/p73 and MDM based on both vertebrate and invertebrate species.
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Seasonal Stress Physiology and Body Condition Differ Among Co-Occurring Tropical Finch Ps Ecies Kimberly L
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Post-Juvenile Moult Strategies of Co
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The Status of Estrildid Finches in North-Western Australia
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Development and Validation of an Environmental DNA Test for the Endangered Gouldian Finch
Vol. 40: 171–182, 2019 ENDANGERED SPECIES RESEARCH Published November 14 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00987 Endang Species Res OPENPEN ACCESSCCESS Development and validation of an environmental DNA test for the endangered Gouldian finch Kimberley Day1, Hamish Campbell1, Alaric Fisher2, Karen Gibb1,*, Brydie Hill2, Alea Rose1, Simon N. Jarman3 1Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, NT 0909, Australia 2Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Northern Territory Government, NT 0831, Australia 3School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, WA 6009, Australia ABSTRACT: Detecting animals by identifying their DNA in water is a valuable tool for locating and monitoring species that are difficult to detect through other survey techniques. We developed a test for detecting the endangered Gouldian finch Erythrura gouldiae, a small bird endemic to northern Australia. Only 1 previous study has reported an environmental DNA (eDNA) test that unequivocally identifies a bird species using the water bodies from which they drink. In controlled aviary trials with a pair of Gouldian finches, first detection in 200 ml of water occurred after as lit- tle as 6 h, but the detection rate was higher at 30 h. DNA persisted in water exposed to the sun for <12 h and in the shade for 12 h. In trials with 55 finches, persistence was up to 144 h. The eDNA test for finches and the Gouldian finch-specific test were positive for waterholes where Gouldian and other finch species were observed each morning over 3 d. Importantly, where no Gouldian finches were observed for up to 72 h prior to water sampling, the Gouldian test was negative.
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Silliman Journal
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Gouldian Finch Health Indices
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