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The Canary
Natural History, Science and Cultural Significance
- 1st Edition - November 26, 2023
- Editors: Goncalo C. Cardoso, Ricardo Jorge Lopes, Paulo Gama Mota
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 5 3 5 0 - 1
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 1 5 3 5 1 - 8
The Canary: Natural History, Science and Cultural Significance covers the ecology, evolution and conservation of the canary and related species, along with the history and cultu… Read more
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Request a sales quoteThe Canary: Natural History, Science and Cultural Significance covers the ecology, evolution and conservation of the canary and related species, along with the history and cultural significance of the domestic canary worldwide and various scientific disciplines in which canaries have played a key role as a model species. The book synthesizes the multiple ways in which the canary and its relatives have been, and continue to be, an important scientific model in diverse areas and have influenced human culture. Each chapter is written by international experts in areas such as biogeography, animal behavior, evolutionary ecology, conservation, neurobiology, genetics, or ethnology.
In covering this eclectic array of topics, while always focusing on the canary and its close relatives, this book uses the immense appeal of the canary as a vehicle to present notions of ecology, evolution, biodiversity conservation, and so on, to a wide audience.
- Details all aspects of Crithagra and Serinus canaries as well as relatives like crossbills
- Structured to begin with more accessible topics like natural history, domestication, and conservation
- Closes with discussions of more specialized topics like evolution, neurobiology, behavior and genomics
Ornithologists; animal scientists; researchers in zoology and biodiversity
- Cover image
- Title page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Part I: From the Atlantic to peoples’ homes
- Chapter one. Macaronesian birds and the natural environment of the canary
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Origin of the avian species
- Time of colonisation and extinction
- Ecology, evolution and biogeography
- Evolutionary histories and taxonomy
- Distribution, habitat and phylogeography of the island canary
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Chapter two. The wild island canary: ecology and behaviour in the Atlantic
- Abstract
- The ecology of the wild island canary
- Seasonality and reproductive behaviour
- Physiological adaptations to the environment
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Chapter three. The domestication and cultural significance of the canary
- Abstract
- Introduction
- The ancestor
- The discovery of the canary
- Early evidence
- When did it become domesticated?
- A caged songbird
- Eighteenth and nineteenth century
- Breeds and varieties
- Figure and posture
- Various functions
- Trick canaries
- Mules
- Globalisation of the canary bird
- Canary as a popular icon
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgement
- References
- Part II: The canary and its relatives
- Chapter four. The family tree and biogeographic history of the canary relatives
- Abstract
- The finches Fringillidae – taxonomy and systematics in the pre-DNA era
- Phylogenetic trees – single markers
- A multilocus tree of finches
- Mutations, volcanoes and fossils – how to infer species ages?
- Reconstruction of biogeographic history – how to infer ancestral ranges?
- Close and distant relatives of the Atlantic canary, Serinus canaria
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Chapter five. Ecology, evolution, and conservation of the canaries and their closest finch relatives
- Abstract
- An introduction to the true finches (Fringillidae)
- Ecology: the birds and the seeds
- Life, liberty and the pursuit of habitat
- Seeds, song and sex
- Conservation – safe for now?
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Chapter six. The peculiar cousins: lessons from the ecology and evolution of crossbills
- Abstract
- The three challenges
- Timing of seed fall and the distribution of crossbills with implications from climate change
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Chapter seven. Evolution of song and colour across the canary relatives
- Abstract
- Functions of song and colour ornamentation in the canary relatives
- Evolution of song across the canary relatives
- Evolution of colour across the canary relatives
- References
- Part III: A model for science
- Chapter eight. What the canary can tell us about singing and the brain
- Abstract
- Singing in the brain
- Singing in the brain of a canary
- A plastic brain in males
- What about the brain of females
- Conclusion
- References
- Chapter nine. Eggs, hormones and breeding
- Abstract
- A few words about hormones
- Breeding biology of the domestic canary: a short description
- Pioneering studies: the canary as a model for hormone–behaviour interactions
- Effects of the social environment and sex hormones on female canary reproductive physiology and behaviour
- Sex hormones at the brain level
- Variations in clutch composition: hormones in the eggs
- Parent–offspring interactions and hormones
- References
- Chapter ten. Canary domestication as a model for genomics research and avian evolution
- Abstract
- The potential of artificial selection on birds for genomics research
- Methodologies for investigating the genetic basis of avian traits
- What has been done so far in the canary and prospects
- The future is bright
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Appendix A. Concluding remarks
- Index
- No. of pages: 314
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: November 26, 2023
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Paperback ISBN: 9780443153501
- eBook ISBN: 9780443153518
GC
Goncalo C. Cardoso
Gonçalo C. Cardoso is a research scientist at CIBIO-University of Porto, Portugal, working in the fields of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He specializes in social behaviour, the function and evolution of sexual signals.
Affiliations and expertise
Research scientist at CIBIO-University of Porto, Portugal,RL
Ricardo Jorge Lopes
Ricardo Jorge Lopes is a research scientist at CIBIO and Curator of the Bird Collection at the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP). He is an evolutionary ecologist with a strong focus on conservation, and uses canaries as a model species to investigate the genomics of evolutionarily relevant traits.
Affiliations and expertise
Research scientist at CIBIO-University of Porto, Portugal, and Curator of Birds at the Natural History & Science Museum (MHNC), University of Porto.PM
Paulo Gama Mota
Paulo Gama Mota is Associate Professor at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Most of his field and laboratory research concerns animal communication and mate choice behaviour, using the canary and its closest relative (the European serin) as model study species. He has had a long experience as director of different science museums.
Affiliations and expertise
Associate Professor, University of Coimbra, Portugal