Abstract
Respiratory pores are essential for the survival of the embryo within the eggshell. Distribution patterns of such pores on ostrich (Struthio camelus) eggshells show remarkable variations in bird group. Eggshells preserved in the museum of New Zealand have long, superficial, winding grooves and ridges, with pores distributed densely in the bottom of grooves. Both the grooves and ridges that separate them are twisted. By contrast, the surfaces of eggs from farmed ostriches are mostly smooth, with only occasional, short grooves, and respiratory pores distributed more evenly. The cause of ridging and grooving of the surface of eggs from wild birds is unclear but may be due to the need for stronger shells and effects of environmental stresses. It appears that the arrangement of respiratory pores on ostrich eggshells seems to be changeable by surrounding stresses.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to express thanks to Professors Drs. Ian Silver and Maria Erecinska for their valuable suggestions. Thanks are also due to Mr Sasao, head manager of Ishioka Ostrich Kingdom for his kind suggestions on ostrich station. At Te Papa, Phil Sirvid, Thomas Schultz, Rick Webber, Ricardo Palma, Susan Waugh and Mike Fitzgerald provided much appreciated assistance during TK’s visit. TK wishes to express his thanks also to Dr. Tatsuro Ando, curator of Ashoro fossil Museum, Hokkaido, Japan.
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Koyama, T., Tennyson, A.J.D. (2016). Respiratory Pores on Ostrich Struthio camelus (Aves: Struthionidae) Eggshells. In: Luo, Q., Li, L., Harrison, D., Shi, H., Bruley, D. (eds) Oxygen Transport to Tissue XXXVIII. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 923. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38810-6_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38810-6_7
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