Introduction: The morphogenic and histogenetic events of an organ and their time sequencing are basic required information to study factors involved in cells differentiation and evaluating the influence of different agents during the critical period of organ formation. The birds are noted as models in experimental embryologic studies, more than other animals. The present study described the mor...

Most studies on the effects of wind energy on animals have focused on avian and bat activity, habitat use, and mortality, whereas very few have been published on terrestrial, non-volant wildlife. In this paper, we studied the utilization of functioning wind farm areas by four terrestrial animals common to agricultural landscapes: European roe deer, European hare, red fox, and the common pheasan...

Pheasants, Phasianus colchicus L., constitute a major part of the ground-feeding avifauna of England and Wales and are important hosts to immature stages of Ixodes ricinus L., the principal tick vector of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in Europe. Therefore, their competence as hosts for Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Steigerwalt & Brenner sensu lato was investigated. One group of pheasants...

During the last decades, high-efficiency farming equipment has been developed in the agricultural sector. This has also included efficiency improvement of moving techniques, which include increased working speeds and widths. Therefore, the risk of wild animals being accidentally injured or killed during routine farming operations has increased dramatically over the years. In particular, the nes...

An egg injection study was conducted to confirm a proposed model of relative sensitivity of three avian species to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-like chemicals. It was previously reported that the order of species sensitivity to in ovo exposure to TCDD, 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran (PeCDF), or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran (TCDF) at doses ranging from 0.044 to 37 picomoles (...

The comparative study of proteins is being used with greater frequency to produce information concerning genetic differences among species. Such studies make it increasingly evident that there may not be a strict correlation between degree of genetic difference and degree of difference at the supramolecular or organismal level. This point can be illustrated by the results of comparing proteins ...

West Nile virus (WNV), a neurovirulent mosquito-transmissible zoonotic virus, has caused recent outbreaks in Europe, including Serbia from August until October 2012. Although humans can be infected, birds are the main natural WNV reservoir. To assess WNV circulation in northern Serbia, 133 wild birds were investigated. These comprised resident and migratory birds, collected between January and ...

Evidence is accumulating that sex steroids in the eggs, besides affecting progeny phenotype and behavior in the short term, also have enduring effects until adulthood, when they may translate into differences in reproductive strategies and success. Maternal steroids transfer may therefore affect both agonistic behavior and mate choice decisions, either through the promotion of body size and con...