Researchers Sequence Genome of Turquoise-Fronted Amazon Parrot

A team of scientists from the United States and Brazil has successfully sequenced the genome of the turquoise-fronted Amazon parrot (Amazona aestiva) and compared it with those of 30 other bird species, including 4 additional parrots.

The turquoise-fronted Amazon parrot (Amazona aestiva). Image credit: Charles J. Sharp, www.sharpphotography.co.uk / CC BY-SA 4.0.

The analysis revealed that parrots and other long-lived birds share high rates of conserved mutations in genes responsible for supporting an abnormally long lifespan for a small animal. For example, the expected lifespan for a bird of a similar size as a parrot would be in the range of 15-20 years, whereas the turquoise-fronted Amazon can live up to 66 years.

“Many of the newly-identified genes support telomerase activity; DNA damage repair; control of cell proliferation, cancer, and immunity; and anti-oxidative mechanisms and were previously shown to affect lifespan in worms and flies,” said Dr. Claudio Mello, a behavioral neuroscientist at Oregon Health Science University.

“We also found a few hundred genes that have not been implicated in lifespan before, which are good candidates to study further.”

Dr. Mello and co-authors identified several dozen parrot specific genes that may be important for their defining traits, such as their ability to imitate sounds.

“We saw that regulatory elements of genes related to brain development and function had similar modifications in humans and parrots,” Dr. Mello said.

“That means that some cognitive abilities may have evolved convergently in both humans and parrots.”

Parrots tend to live in large groups, which the researchers speculate may have driven the evolution of traits such as the ability to imitate sounds, complex social behaviors, and other cognitive abilities; their calls are thought to reflect these social structures.

Complex social structures are thought to have been a driving force in the evolution of human language as well.

“Learning to imitate sounds is the basis of speech in birds and in humans as well,” Dr. Mello said.

“It’s actually a very complex process, and we don’t fully understand how it happens.”

“We know that species incapable of vocal learning will still make sounds if you deafen or isolate them from birth, because their sounds are innate.”

“But isolate or deafen a young parrot, as has been shown in budgerigars, and it will not learn to vocalize properly.”

The results appear in the journal Current Biology.

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Morgan Wirthlin et al. Parrot Genomes and the Evolution of Heightened Longevity and Cognition. Current Biology, published online December 6, 2018; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.10.050