Effects of Tissue Collection Methods on Morphometrics and Survival of Captive Neonatal Northern Bobwhite

Evans, K. O., Burger, L. W., Faircloth, B. C., Palmer, W. E., & Carroll, J. P. (2009). Effects of Tissue Collection Methods on Morphometrics and Survival of Captive Neonatal Northern Bobwhite. Journal of Wildlife Management. The Wildlife Society. 73(7), 1241-1244. DOI:10.2193/2008-011.

Abstract

We assessed effects of tissue collection methods (i.e., patagial microbiopsy and down feathers) and chick age at sampling on morphometrics and 21-day survival of 600 captive neonatal northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). We observed minimal effects on morphometrics and no difference in survival among patagial microbiopsy (x ¯ 5 0.96 6 0.03), down feathers (x ¯ 5 0.92 6 0.04), and control (x ¯ 5 0.86 6 0.05) methods. DNA analysis from patagial microbiopsy, down feather, and egg tooth samples showed greater concentrations of DNA from patagial microbiopsy (x ¯ 5 10.28 6 1.74 mg/ml) than either down feather (x ¯ 5 4.10 6 1.74 mg/ml) or egg teeth (x ¯ 5 2.35 6 1.74 mg/ml)