Feather-Damaging Behavior in Companion Parrots: Are Species Differences Intrinsic or Caused by Variations in Husbandry?

Kinkaid, Heather Y. McDonald; Mills, Daniel S.; Nichols, Steve G.; Mason, Georgia

doi:10.1080/10888705.2013.827930

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Despite being predisposed to an increased generation of ROS, their long lifespan suggests that birds might be resistant to aging processes. Psittaciformes, including macaws, parrots, and related forms (parakeets) are found to be the most persevering birds, probably as a product of key traits such as delayed reproduction, heavy investment in reduced offspring, large brains, vocal communication, and social information transfer, which reduce extrinsic mortality and thus increase longevity ( Brauth et al, 1997 ; Møller, 2006 ; McDonald Kinkaid, 2015 ; Smeele et al, 2022 ). Therefore, there is reason to expect that aging is systematically different in long-lived and short-lived species, and long-lived birds might reveal a novel model for studying human aging.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An approach to the effects of longevity, sexual maturity, and reproduction on telomere length and oxidative stress in different Psittacidae species

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Aging is a multifactorial process that includes molecular changes such as telomere shortening. Telomeres shorten progressively with age in vertebrates, and their shortening rate has a significant role in determining the lifespan of a species. However, DNA loss can be enhanced by oxidative stress. The need for novel animal models has recently emerged as a tool to gather more information about the human aging process. Birds live longer than other mammals of the same size, and Psittacidae species are the most persevering of them, due to special key traits.Methods: We aimed to determine telomere length by qPCR, and oxidative stress status using colorimetric and fluorescence methods in different species of the order Psittaciformes with different lifespans.Results: We found that telomeres shorten with age for both long- and short-lived birds (p < 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively), with long-lived birds presenting longer telomeres than short-lived ones (p = 0.001). In addition, short-lived birds accumulated more oxidative stress products than long-lived birds (p = 0.013), who showed a better antioxidant capacity (p < 0.001). Breeding was found related to telomere shortening in all species (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003 for long- and short-lived birds). Short-lived birds, especially breeding females, increased their oxidative stress products when breeding (p = 0.021), whereas long-lived birds showed greater resistance and even increased their antioxidant capacity (p = 0.002).Conclusion: In conclusion, the relationship between age and telomere length in Psittacidae was verified. The influence of breeding increased cumulative oxidative damage in short-lived species, while long-lived species may counteract this damage.

show abstract