Developmental origins and evolution of pallial cell types and structures in birds

Innovations in the pallium likely facilitated the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities in birds. We therefore scrutinized its cellular composition and evolution using cell type atlases from chicken, mouse, and nonavian reptiles. We found that the avian pallium shares most inhibitory neuron types with other amniotes. Whereas excitatory neuron types in amniote hippocampal regions show evolutionary conservation, those in other pallial regions have diverged. Neurons in the avian mesopallium display gene expression profiles akin to the mammalian claustrum and deep cortical layers, while certain nidopallial cell types resemble neurons in the piriform cortex. Lastly, we observed substantial gene expression convergence between the dorsally located hyperpallium and ventrally located nidopallium during late development, suggesting that topological location does not always dictate gene expression programs determining functional properties in the adult avian pallium.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2025-02-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adp5182
Citations
33
Primary Topic
Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
52.45
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article

Developmental origins and evolution of pallial cell types and structures in birds

Ioannis Sarropoulos, Céline Schneider, Evgeny V. Leushkin, Enya Van Poucke et al.
33 citations
Science
Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
52.45
article

Developmental origins and evolution of pallial cell types and structures in birds

Ioannis Sarropoulos, Céline Schneider, Evgeny V. Leushkin, Enya Van Poucke, Bianka Berki, Francesco Lamanna, Amir Fallahshahroudi, Mari Sepp, Fernando García‐Moreno, Bastienne Zaremba, Per Jensen, Nils Trost, Francisca Hervas-Sotomayor, Henrik Kaessmann, Rodrigo Senovilla-Ganzo, Julia Schmidt
article en
33 citations

Abstract

Innovations in the pallium likely facilitated the evolution of advanced cognitive abilities in birds. We therefore scrutinized its cellular composition and evolution using cell type atlases from chicken, mouse, and nonavian reptiles. We found that the avian pallium shares most inhibitory neuron types with other amniotes. Whereas excitatory neuron types in amniote hippocampal regions show evolutionary conservation, those in other pallial regions have diverged. Neurons in the avian mesopallium display gene expression profiles akin to the mammalian claustrum and deep cortical layers, while certain nidopallial cell types resemble neurons in the piriform cortex. Lastly, we observed substantial gene expression convergence between the dorsally located hyperpallium and ventrally located nidopallium during late development, suggesting that topological location does not always dictate gene expression programs determining functional properties in the adult avian pallium.

ScienceVol. 387(6735)
Linköping University (SE), Ikerbasque (ES), University of the Basque Country (ES), Heidelberg University (DE), Wellcome Sanger Institute (GB), Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience (ES), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance (DE)
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 0%
Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
52.45
DOISourceOpenAlex
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