Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The long‐distance migrations of thousands of bird species and their billions of individuals are feats of astounding physiological specialization and plasticity. Whereas numerous organ systems require modification to achieve successful fueling and navigation capabilities, given their overarching importance for movement and contribution to body mass, skeletal muscles are subject to exceptional performance optimization and anatomical plasticity. To express the appropriate changes throughout the complicated life history of migration, while remaining in synchrony with the environment, skeletal muscles must receive preparatory signals and express transcriptional and biochemical modifications required for full expression of the migratory phenotype. In all likelihood, these muscles must also temporally signal their state and needs to other organ systems. By considering other well‐studied avian skeletal muscle systems, this review explores how endocrine signaling likely impacts skeletal muscles involved in migration and, conversely, how those muscles might relay their condition elsewhere throughout the bird's body. Systems biology offers exceptional modeling for capturing this complex biology.
Source: Journal of Avian Biology
DOI: 10.1002/jav.03415
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,860
Awards: Hormonal Control of an Avian Neuromuscular System, Physiological mechanisms of migratory traits, Hormonal Control of an Avian Neuromuscular System, Physiological mechanisms of migratory traits, G416064321, Hormonal Control of an Avian Neuromuscular System, COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Neuroendocrine basis of gestural display evolution
OpenAlex ID: W4416365493