Japanese Quail Thermoregulatory Responses to Developmental Heatwaves and Cold Snaps

Experimental data from a study on Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) raised under simulated heatwave or cold snap conditions from hatching to adulthood. The dataset includes biometric and thermoregulatory measurements taken at three developmental stages, exploring phenotypic plasticity and temperature tolerance limits. The data was authored by Maria Correia and last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between developmental temperature and heat tolerance limit based on experimental treatments.
• Analyzing trade-offs between thermogenic capacity (summit metabolic rate) and evaporative cooling capacity.
• Investigating reversible plasticity in thermoregulatory traits after transfer to common garden conditions.
• Correlating biometric growth metrics with thermoregulatory responses like metabolic heat production and evaporative water loss.

Strengths

• Data includes measurements at three distinct developmental stages: during somatic growth, at reproductive maturity, and in adulthood.
• Experimental design compares two distinct thermal treatments (heatwave and cold snap) and a subsequent common garden transfer.
• License is CC-BY-4.0, permitting broad reuse with attribution.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for certain statistical methods.
• The dataset is small (967.7 KB), indicating a limited scope likely focused on summary or processed results rather than raw observations.

Provenance

Source

figshare, authored by Maria Correia.

Collection Method

Experimental measurements from a controlled animal study.

Time Range

The study period is not specified, but data reflects developmental stages from hatching to adulthood.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-27 10:54:21; freshness should be verified.

Geography

The geographic origin of the quail or study location is not specified.