Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 30, 2026

Assessing Species-specific Contributions To Craniofacial Development Using Quail-duck Chimeras
Published on: May 31, 2014
Maternal care affects chicks' development differently according to sex in quail
Nadège Aigueperse1,2, Florent Pittet1,2, Céline Nicolle1,2
1Université de Rennes 1, UMR 6552 Ethologie Animale et Humaine, Rennes, France.
Abstract:
Maternal behavior is known to influence the behavioral development of young. Recently, it was demonstrated that maternal behavior also differed according to sex of chicks and brood sex composition. So, here, we explored if these factors influenced behavioral development of quail chicks when they were brooded, and what characteristics of chicks and foster females could best explain this development. We studied three sets of chick pairs brooded by foster females: unisex male, unisex female, and mixed broods. We found that both emotivity profile and sociality depended on the sex: females were more reactive and less social than males. Females' emotivity profile was correlated with brood composition and foster female activity during maternal care. In males, only sociality was correlated with foster females' scores of aggressive rejection. Our results evidence that male and female chicks respond differentially to maternal behavior. This is discussed in terms of ecological and physiological constraints on development according to sex.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Mate Choice
Parental Care
Background and Environment Affect Phenotype
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...
The Ratio of X Chromosome to Autosomes
Normal male Drosophila has a ratio of one X chromosome to two sets of autosomes. In contrast, normal female Drosophila...
Complementation Tests
Organisms heterozygous for different mutations are crossed pairwise in all combinations. If present on different genes, the mutations can complement each other by providing the missing...
Nondisjunction

