Postnatal growth of the liver in the young fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

In this paper data are presented on the postnatal growth of the body and some organs in the young fieldfare. To the best of our knowledge the fieldfare has the highest specific growth rate ever reported for an avian species. The mitotic activity in the liver has been investigated by means of flow cytometry and autoradiography. It appears that a high rate of liver growth is more nearly related to the relative number of proliferating cells than to the length of the mitotic cycle. Furthermore, it is concluded that the liver has to be large, at least in relation to its functional activities, in order to be able to grow at a very high rate.