Thyroidectomy and Gonadal Recrudescence in Lai Munia, Estrilda amandava

Abstract

When adult, off-season Lai Munia, Estrilda amandava, were thyroidectomized, plumage regeneration was retarded, development of the barbules was suppressed and the intensity of the pigment was reduced. Further, the testes started developing prematurely and, after reaching a maximal size simultaneously with those ofthe normal birds, followed a plateau. The effects of thyroidectomy on plumage regeneration may be due to disturbed body metabolism but those on the gonads are probably due to a direct effect on the output of gonadotropins from the adenohypophysis. (Endocrinology 81: 915, 1967)