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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Probing the Roles of Physical Forces in Early Chick Embryonic Morphogenesis
Published on: June 5, 2018
Posture in ovo as a precursor of footedness in ostriches (Struthio camelus)
Luigi Baciadonna1, Paolo Zucca, Luca Tommasi
1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti, Italy.
Abstract:
Two categories of behaviour involving lateralized posture were observed in semi-natural conditions in ostriches (Struthio camelus). Observing preferences for left or right foot, both in the forward foot posture (the foot standing in front at rest) and the starting foot used to initiate locomotion, a population-level right-foot preference was shown for the whole group and for each of the three age ranges considered (chick, young and adult). Ostriches are known to rely upon a lateralized behaviour during hatching (using their right foot to break the egg shell) suggesting the hypothesis that the precocious motor laterality observed at hatching might stand as a precursor of limb preference later in development, as already observed in other avian species.
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