Oxygen supply limits the heat tolerance of avian embryos.

We report experiments confirming the two conditions of the oxygen-supply model in Japanese quail embryos, Coturnix coturnix. Hypoxia (12% O2) greatly reduced the chance of survival at 47.5°C, and hyperoxia greatly improved the chance of survival at 48.5°C. This finding expands the scope of the oxygen-supply model to a terrestrial, endothermic species, suggesting that oxygen supply generally limits the heat tolerance of embryos. PMID: 31744411 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Biology Letters - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Biol Lett Source Type: research