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Evolution of Finch Beak Morphology

Dr. Jennifer Gee from the University of California, Riverside will give a biology colloquium on the iconoclastic and plastic beaks of finches. Her talk will focus on investigating the molecular factors that give rise to the pointed bill of the warbler finch, and whether environmental forces can alter beak shape in postnatal Java finches through mechanically-induced development. Results suggest the pointed shape of the warbler finch's bill results from suppression of genes upregulated in ground finches. The talk is sponsored by the Tri-Beta Biological Honors Society at California State University, Fresno.

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Madhusudan Katti
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10 views1 page

Evolution of Finch Beak Morphology

Dr. Jennifer Gee from the University of California, Riverside will give a biology colloquium on the iconoclastic and plastic beaks of finches. Her talk will focus on investigating the molecular factors that give rise to the pointed bill of the warbler finch, and whether environmental forces can alter beak shape in postnatal Java finches through mechanically-induced development. Results suggest the pointed shape of the warbler finch's bill results from suppression of genes upregulated in ground finches. The talk is sponsored by the Tri-Beta Biological Honors Society at California State University, Fresno.

Uploaded by

Madhusudan Katti
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Biology Colloquium

The iconoclastic
& plastic beaks
of finches
Dr. Jennifer Gee
Biology Department
U California, Riverside

The beak of the warbler finch (Certhidea fusca) is elongate, slender Feb 4, 2011
and pointed, conspicuously different from all of the other Darwin’s
finches. Despite its singular morphology, the warbler finch occupies a 3-4 PM
basal position in the Darwin’s finch phylogeny, having arisen 2-3 Science II
million years before the other finch species. Thus, understanding beak Room 109
development in the Warbler Finch is critical to explaining the
evolution of all other beak types in Darwin’s Finches. Curiously, the
bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) occupies a similar phylogenetic and morphological space
within its clade, a group of birds that are close relatives of Darwin’s finches. Using these
species, we investigate 1) the molecular factors that give rise to pointed bills and how
much of this developmental program is shared among Darwin’s finches. Beak size and
shape can be highly heritable in birds such as Darwin’s finches, but is not necessarily the
case for all birds. In vertebrates including fish, mammals and lizards, response to
mechanical stress is not only possible but necessary for normal jaw development. As a
second focus, we ask 2) whether environmental forces can alter beak shape in postnatal
Java finches (Padda oryzivora) and if so, how mechanisms of postnatal, mechanically-
induced beak development compare to heritable factors that have been identified in
Darwin’s finches. Results suggest that pointed shape of the Warbler finch bill results from
suppression of the molecular factors that are upregulated in the Ground Finches with
broad and wide bills. Thus, the ancestor of the Warbler finch may have itself had a more
typical Darwin’s finch bill and a developmental program corresponding to this
morphology. Further, we show that the genes involved with key bill dimensions across
Darwin’s finches with heritable bill shapes can be realized by mechanical rather than
genetic induction and in postnatal rather than embryonic Java finches.

Sponsored by Tri-Beta Biological Honors Society


California State University, Fresno
For further information:
[Link]/biology
559-278-2001

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