Embryological basis of diversification of avian morphology: developmental mechanism that enables the penguin to fly in the water

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26650073
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Developmental biology
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: TAMURA Koji 東北大学, 生命科学研究科, 教授 (70261550)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 多様性進化 / 鳥類 / ペンギン / 前肢 / 共有派生形質 / 形態形成

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We established experimental basis of penguin embryology. The basis enabled us to transfer penguin eggs from an aquarium in Tokyo to our laboratory in Sendai, incubate eggs, and manipulate penguin embryos. We found that developmental defects of the first digit in the penguin forelimb (wing) start at stage 27 and that decrease of cell proliferation and ectopic expression of bmp4 can be seen during the process. We also described developmental process of flight feather formation in the chick and penguin embryos. We are now preparing some manuscripts for publishing the data on penguin wing development. Thanks to this project, a model system of penguin embryology was successfully established for the first time in the world.

Free Research Field

発生生物学