Project description:The pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) is raised by commercial farms in most parts of China because of special fleshy flavour. In the study, complete mitochondrial genome of the Mongolia pheasant was sequenced by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as well as the primer walking sequence method. The entire mitochondrial genome of Mongolia pheasant was 16,673 bp in length, gene composition and arrangement conformed to most bird, which contained the typical structure of 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, 13 protein-coding genes and a non-coding region. The phylogenetic tree of 20 Phasianidaes showed that Mongolia pheasant had close relationship to ring-necked pheasant. Our complete mitochondrial genome sequence will be useful phylogenetics, and be available as basic data for the breeding and genetics.
Project description:In group-living vertebrates, dominance status often covaries with physiological measurements (e.g. glucocorticoid levels), but it is unclear how dominance is linked to dynamic changes in physiological state over a shorter, behavioural timescale. In this observational study, we recorded spontaneous aggression among captive juvenile pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) alongside infrared thermographic measurements of their external temperature, a non-invasive technique previously used to examine stress responses in non-social contexts, where peripheral blood is redirected towards the body core. We found low but highly significant repeatability in maximum head temperature, suggesting individually consistent thermal profiles, and some indication of lower head temperatures in more active behavioural states (e.g. walking compared to resting). These individual differences were partly associated with sex, females being cooler on average than males, but unrelated to body size. During pairwise aggressive encounters, we observed a non-monotonic temperature change, with head temperature dropping rapidly immediately prior to an attack and increasing rapidly afterwards, before returning to baseline levels. This nonlinear pattern was similar for birds in aggressor and recipient roles, but aggressors were slightly hotter on average. Our findings show that aggressive interactions induce rapid temperature changes in dominants and subordinates alike, and highlight infrared thermography as a promising tool for investigating the physiological basis of pecking orders in galliforms. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
