Provine R R
Dev Psychobiol. 1981 Sep;14(5):481-6. doi: 10.1002/dev.420140510.
Two lines of mutant, domestic chickens (scaleless and delayed feathering), flightless because they lack flight feathers, were used to evaluate the influence of flight-related experience and adaptation on the development of wing-flapping. Most testing was at 13 days because normally feathered control chicks of this age flap at adult rates and can fly. By 13 days, the wing-flapping rates of the flightless, mutant chicks and the normally feathered and flight-competent control chicks were similar. Therefore, normal adult rates of wing-flapping developed in the absence of flight-related behavioral consequences. Drop-evoked wing-flapping was probably initiated by vestibular mechanisms: feather-related mechanoreceptor and visual cues were not necessary because flapping was initiated by naked, scaleless chicks which were deprived of visual input by masking their eyes or by testing in a darkened room. The possible role of feather mutations in the evolution of avian flightlessness is also considered.
使用了两行突变家鸡（无鳞和羽毛发育延迟），它们因缺乏飞羽而无法飞行，以此来评估与飞行相关的经验和适应性对振翅发育的影响。大多数测试在13日龄时进行，因为这个年龄段正常有羽毛的对照雏鸡以成年鸡的速率振翅且能够飞行。到13日龄时，不会飞的突变雏鸡与正常有羽毛且具备飞行能力的对照雏鸡的振翅速率相似。因此，在没有与飞行相关行为后果的情况下，正常成年鸡的振翅速率得以发育。下落诱发的振翅可能是由前庭机制引发的：与羽毛相关的机械感受器和视觉线索并非必要，因为由裸露、无鳞的雏鸡引发了振翅，这些雏鸡通过遮住眼睛或在黑暗的房间中进行测试而被剥夺了视觉输入。还考虑了羽毛突变在鸟类丧失飞行能力进化过程中的可能作用。
