Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39374322›Full record

ArticleJournal of anatomy2025

Variation in air sac morphology and postcranial skeletal pneumatization patterns in the African grey parrot.

Adam B Lawson, Aracely Martinez, Brandon P Hedrick, M Scott Echols, Emma R Schachner

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of anatomy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. The lungs of the finch: three-dimensional pulmonary anatomy of the zebra finch (Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Article
  3. When the lung invades: a review of avian postcranial skeletal pneumaticity.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Review
  4. Unidirectional airflow, air sacs or the horizontal septum: what does it take to make a bird lung?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Adam B LawsonDepartment of Structural & Cell Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6088-159X
Aracely MartinezDepartment of Cell Biology and Anatomy, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.ORCID 0009-0005-2888-6434
Brandon P HedrickDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4446-3405
M Scott EcholsThe Medical Center for Birds, Oakley, California, USA.
Emma R SchachnerDepartment of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8636-925X

Funding

Association of Avian Veterinarians
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The anatomy of the avian lower respiratory system includes a complex interaction between air-filled pulmonary tissues, pulmonary air sacs, and much of the postcranial skeleton. Hypotheses related to the function and phylogenetic provenance of these respiratory structures have been posed based on extensive interspecific descriptions for an array of taxa. By contrast, intraspecific descriptions of anatomical variation for these features are much more limited, particularly for skeletal pneumatization, and are essential to establish a baseline for evaluating interspecific variation. To address this issue, we collected micro-computed tomography (μCT) scans of live and deceased African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) to assess variation in the arrangement of the lungs, the air sacs, and their respective invasion of the postcranial skeleton via pneumatic foramina. Analysis reveals that the two pairs of caudalmost air sacs vary in size and arrangement, often exhibiting an asymmetric morphology. Further, locations of the pneumatic foramina are more variable for midline, non-costal skeletal elements when compared to other pneumatized bones. These findings indicate a need to better understand contributing factors to variation in avian postcranial respiratory anatomy that can inform future intraspecific and interspecific comparisons.

Indexed as

Air SacsParrotsX-Ray MicrotomographyAnimalsBone and Bones3D modelAfrican grey parrotair sacanatomical variationavianlungmicro‐CTskeletal pneumatization

Identifiers

PMID39374322
PMCPMC11684383

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.