AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

The Ornate Tinamou ( Nothoprocta ornata), an ancient bird, has adapted to life at high altitude (>2.400 m.a.s.l) for a longer period than the domestic chicken ( Gallus domesticus), which came to South America with the Spanish conquerors. Ornate tinamous have a smaller heart in relation to body size than domestic chickens. This study was made to evaluate heart morphometric measurements comparing Ornate Tinamou and domestic chicken using echocardiography measurements to determine wall thickness and chamber size and to evaluate whether it can retrieve measurements consistent with previous results on dissected hearts. I was also interested in evaluating potential adaptations of the Ornate Tinamou to life in hypoxic environments by exposing the heart to positive inotropic stimulation. The results were compared with those previously obtained on dissected hearts. The results showed that the chamber size of the domestic chicken was significantly larger than in Ornate Tinamou, both in conscious and anesthetized birds. Injection of 1µg/kg isoproterenol caused domestic chickens’ systolic chamber size to decrease significantly and fractional shortening to increase significantly. The same changes were seen in the Ornate Tinamou but they were not significant. In conclusion, this study confirms that echocardiography is a valid method for retrieving cardiac measurements without euthanizing animals, opening for the possibility of taking several measurements at different ages.