Construction of Research Aviaries at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

热带假人猿是一群非同寻常的鸟类，具有许多生理和解剖适应能力，这是它们宏伟的社会制度和求偶程序的基础。虽然以前对这些鸟类的研究是在野生种群中进行的，但巴拿马甘博阿史密森热带研究所(STRI)建造的鸟类养殖场将用于在半自然(被森林包围)的条件下圈养鸟类。饲养在这些禽鸟养殖场的部分禽鸟将用于繁殖，以便收集和研究马纳金鸡胚胎和幼崽。其他鸟类将被用于行为发展的长期研究，用于荷尔蒙或行为操纵，用于使用微型遥测的生理测量，用于杂交研究，以及从已知谱系和行为和生理条件的鸟类中收集组织。重要的是，由于巴拿马金领马纳金(Manacus Vitellinus)现在有了非常高质量的基因组序列，而另外两个属的基因组最近已经完成，因此对马纳金的研究处于一个非常有利的地位，可以迅速取得进展。这些资源为利用遗传资源了解这些行为、生理和形态表型是如何发展的创造了极好的潜力。最近，一群玛纳金鸟生物学家获得了美国国家科学基金会研究协调网络(RCN)的拨款，以刺激对这一鸟类群体的基因组启用的多学科研究。这个小组的研究目标，以及许多其他鸟类生物学家的目标，将能够通过对这些半自然圈养条件下的鸟类的研究而取得更快的进展。此外，STRI科学家的存在以及访问STRI甘博阿的大量访问科学家将鼓励合作和创造新的科学努力，将其应用于其他脊椎动物甚至人类。此外，鸟舍内的雀鸟录影带亦会供市民观看，以供教学之用。欲了解更多信息，请访问http://www.stri.si.edu/.。

Tropical manakins are an extraordinary group of birds with numerous physiological and anatomical adaptations that underlie their magnificent social systems and courtship routines. Whereas previous study of these birds has been performed on wild populations, aviaries built at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Gamboa Panama will be used to maintain birds in captivity under semi-natural (surrounded by forest) conditions. Some birds housed in these aviaries will be used for breeding purposes to enable collection and study of manakin embryos and hatchlings. Other birds will be used for long-term study of the development of behavior, for hormonal or behavioral manipulations, for physiological measures using miniaturized telemetry, for hybridization studies and for tissue collection from birds of known lineage and behavioral and physiological condition. Importantly, the study of manakins is now in an excellent position to progress rapidly as a very high quality genomic sequence is now available for the golden-collared manakin (Manacus vitellinus) of Panama, and genomes have recently been completed for two other genera. These resources create excellent potential for using genetic resources to understand how these behavioral, physiological and morphological phenotypes develop. Recently, a cohort of manakin biologists was awarded a NSF Research Coordination Network (RCN) grant to stimulate genome-enabled, multidisciplinary study of this bird group. The research objectives of this group, as well as that of many other avian biologists, will be able to progress more rapidly by the study of birds in these semi-natural captive conditions. In addition, the presence of STRI scientists as well as the large number of visiting scientists that visit STRI in Gamboa will encourage collaboration and the creation of new scientific endeavors with application to other vertebrates and even humans. Moreover, video coverage of the birds in the aviaries will be made available to the public for teaching purposes. For more information please visit http://www.stri.si.edu/.