Zebra Finch Embryos Prepare for Climate Change by Listening to Their Parents

Songs that Zebra Finch parents sing to their eggs are more than lullabies - specific calls have been found to prepare the chicks for climate change.

Post-doctoral researcher at Deakin University Mylene Mariette noticed that Zebra Finches change their song during incubation when temperatures rise above 78 F. Baby birds born after listening to the changed call have a lower birth weight, giving evidence that birds have the ability to adapt their babies growth.

A study was conducted to test Mariette's hypothesis that incubation calls affect embryonic development. Results were published Thursday with the conclusion that embryos exposed to the change in call experienced physical and behavior changes that situated them to survive the higher temperatures associated with climate change.

"This acoustic signal is potentially being used to program the development of offspring," associate professor of animal ecology at Deakin University and the senior author of the study Kate Buchanan explained to Smithsonian Magazine.

"Hearing the call affects your rate of growth relative to the temperature that you experience." Buchanan went on to say that this is only the beginning of our understanding about animals ability to develop and adapt based on information they infer about changing climates.

Lower birth weight, and subsequently lower adulthood weight, is a boon to animals in hot weather. Their bodies are able to more efficiently keep themselves cool.

Mariette and her team artificially incubated Zebra Finch eggs at 99 F. During the last three to five days of incubation, the 166 eggs were divided into a control group that listened to normal calls and a test group that listened to the changed incubation call.

In addition to lower birth weight, adulthood behavior was altered to fit climate change conditions. The birds that listened to the changed incubation call chose nests in hotter areas than their peers.

Zebra Finches have given hope that animal species can adapt and avoid widespread destruction as the globe continues to heat up. Listen to the higher temperature calls at Science Magazine.