Scientists Research Alligators, Chickens (Via HerpDigest)

Scientists Research Alligators, Chickens

Daytona BeachDaily News, Daytona Beach, FL, August 31, 2010 
http://www.ntdaily.com/?p=10663 for video of baby gators

Muffled chirps squeak out from behind the door of a climate-controlled, windowless storage closet on the second floor of Life Sciences Building B.

"They're calling for their mother," said biology graduate student Ryan Moore, leaning against a refrigerator-sized incubator filled with un-hatched alligator eggs. "Lucky for us, she's not here."
Two rooms over, dozens of chicken eggs sit nestled in the comfort of a regulated incubator of their own, rotating automatically every two hours.


Both animals are part of an ongoing physiological research project comparing the metabolic rates of different bird species, said Sarah Goy, a biology graduate student heading the egg incubation portion of the project. Researchers hope to gain a better understanding of the development of human lungs.

"Surprisingly, chickens and alligators are closely related," Goy said. "Birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs."

The study focuses on the process through which animals regulate body temperature. It will compare the development of the endothermic metabolic processes of developing chickens with the exothermic processes of developing alligators, Goy said.

Humans are endothermic - they generate their own heat - and the development of chickens in the egg closely resembles the development of human babies in the womb, Goy said. But unlike humans, chickens emerge with the ability to walk, search for food and function independently.
"Aside from their appearance, they're essentially small adult chickens," Goy said.

For other birds, the development process more closely resembles that of humans.

"It takes robins a week to develop the ability to regulate their own body temperature," Goy said. "They're born blind and cannot function on their own."

The alligators serve as the negative control for the study, Goy said. Their metabolic rates remain stable because their body heat is generated from their surroundings. That data is then compared with the chickens and other bird species to provide analysis of the development of the metabolic process.

Preparation for the study began earlier this summer.

The 200 alligator eggs were picked up from the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas on July 17 and were immediately put in the incubator upon arrival at UNT, said Edward Dzialowski, the biology faculty member heading the research. They stayed at a constant temperature of 32 degrees Celsius and began hatching during the first week of August.

The chirping hasn't stopped since.

"It was quite incredible," Goy said. "The first egg actually hatched in someone's hand. It is a fantastic process to watch."

The alligators are two weeks old and several will be kept for as long as a year for further analyses, but most will be humanely put to sleep to allow scientists to study their internal organs.
Dzialowski said aside from the scientific value of the study, projects like this are great opportunities for students to gain valuable experience.

"It is a valuable thing what an undergrad can do in a lab and get hands-on experience that you wouldn't have received in class," Dzialowski said. "Your prospects are much higher. Anything a student can do to be involved in research should be encouraged."