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Effects of thyroxine level and temperature manipulations upon the hatching of chick embryos (gallus domesticus)
Author(s) -
Balaban Martin,
Hill Joanna
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420040103
Subject(s) - hatching , yolk sac , incubation , embryo , biology , yolk , endocrinology , medicine , chorioallantoic membrane , embryogenesis , zoology , andrology , ecology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology
Thyroxine levels within chick embryos (Gallus domesticus) and incubation temperature were manipulated late in development in order to determine those events most proximal to the time of hatching that are both necessary and sufficient for the appearance of the hatched state. Events recorded include the time of breathing initiation, changes in breathing rate, time of puncture of the chorioallantoic membrane and changes in rate of loss of yolk sac material. It was found that a certain level of thyroxine is necessary for an animal to hatch, that breathing and puncture of the chorioallantoic membrane are necessary but not sufficient to predict the occurrence of hatching, and that a change in rate of loss of yolk sac material during the last 18 hr prior to hatching is sufficient to predict the occurrence of hatching. The explanatory hypothesis offered is that the endogenous increase in thyroxine levels acting via increased metabolic rates is necessary and sufficient for the animals to hatch.