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Olfaction in peking ducks (Anas platyrhynchos): A comparative study of centrifugal and centripetal olfactory connections in young ducks and in embryos and ducklings (Aves)

Zoomorphology volume 106, pages 185–198 (1986)Cite this article

Summary

Our study of young white Peking ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) revealed that their main olfactory centres are very similar to those reported for pigeons. Additionally, two major olfactory tracts and other olfactory centres were found to be intimately associated with telencephalic and diencephalic limbic structures. Our results make it possible to reject the view that olfaction in birds is not connected with the limbic system, as is the case in other vertebrates. The occurrence of olfaction was found to be considerably higher in embryos and ducklings. Embryonic connections are more extensive than the olfactory structures of young ducks, covering the archipallial wall of the hemisphere, i.e. the dorsomedial hippocampus and the main laminae of the forebrain. Transitory centripetal olfactory connections develop in embryos, and centrifugal olfactory connections are present in ducklings at the time of hatching. Controls revealed that a portion of the olfactory connections is drastically reduced by physiological degeneration involving connections emanating from both directions. Ultrastructural examination of embryonic archipallial structures revealed that the degeneration is partially the result of the dispersal of innervated neurons. Phylogenetically, one may compare the significant involvement of transitory olfactory connections in the anlage of limbic structures with the conditions occurring in anamniot vertebrates. This supports the hypothesis that the primary development of transitory olfactory connections represents an ontogenetic recapitulation of ancestral conditions, by which the structural and functional organization of the avian brain is influenced.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroanatomy, Faculty of Biology, University of Bielefeld, D-4800, Bielefeld 1, Federal Republic of Germany

    G. Teuchert, T. Reissmann & A. Vockel

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  1. G. Teuchert
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  2. T. Reissmann
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  3. A. Vockel
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Teuchert, G., Reissmann, T. & Vockel, A. Olfaction in peking ducks (Anas platyrhynchos): A comparative study of centrifugal and centripetal olfactory connections in young ducks and in embryos and ducklings (Aves). Zoomorphology 106, 185–198 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312208

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00312208

Keywords

  • Developmental Biology
  • Limbic System
  • Functional Organization
  • Ancestral Condition
  • Limbic Structure