期刊
BIOLOGY LETTERS
卷 8, 期 6, 页码 964-967出版社
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0655
关键词
helmeted honeyeater; hihi; captive breeding; orange-bellied parrot; Spix's macaw; yellow-shouldered Amazon parrot
资金
- NERC
- Leverhulme Trust
About 10 per cent of birds' eggs fail to hatch, but the incidence of failure can be much higher in endangered species. Most studies fail to distinguish between infertility (due to a lack of sperm) and embryo mortality as the cause of hatching failure, yet doing so is crucial in order to understand the underlying problem. Using newly validated techniques to visualize sperm and embryonic tissue, we assessed the fertility status of unhatched eggs of five endangered species, including both wild and captive birds. All eggs were classified as 'infertile' when collected, but most were actually fertile with numerous sperm on the ovum. Eggs of captive birds had fewer sperm and were more likely to be infertile than those of wild birds. Our findings raise important questions regarding the management of captive breeding programmes.
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