SPECIES DIFFERENCES IN EARLY PATTERNING OF THE AVIAN BRAIN

The telencephalon is proportionately larger in parrots than in galliformes (chicken‐like birds), whereas the midbrain tectum is proportionately smaller. We here test the hypothesis that the adult species difference in midbrain proportion is due to an evolutionary change in early brain patterning. In particular, we compare the size of the early embryonic midbrain between parakeets (Melopsittacus undulatus) and bobwhite quail (Colinus virgianus)...