KEY POINTS:
Auckland University researchers have been using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to study frozen and thawed brains from different species of kiwi.
They are using the technique to investigate the complex brain structure of kiwi to get a better understanding of the birds' behaviour in the hope that it will help tailor conservation projects for endangered species.
The study used the brains of four species of kiwi, and created three-dimensional images of the brain structures, using advanced MRI techniques.
"By comparing the images to those of other bird species, the behaviour of the kiwi can be predicted," said researcher Jeremy Corfield.
Previous research has revealed that kiwi gather and process information in a different way to other birds, including other nocturnal birds such as owls.
Another Auckland University researcher found kiwi did not seem to follow the normal evolutionary route of nocturnal birds, which had large eyes, enabling information to be processed visually.
Kiwi were more similar to nocturnal mammals in the way they relied on smell and touch to find their way about the forest floor.
Most flying birds were guided by vision.
Some of the latest research on scanning has been published in an international journal, Nature Protocols, to show how scanning can be used to study the brains of extinct or endangered species and obtain a better understanding of their behaviour.
Scanning showed kiwi brains were relatively large compared to other large flightless birds, and a couple of species of moa.
- NZPA
