# To Tame a Songbird: The Genomics of the Domestication Syndrome in a Songbird Model Species

## TL;DR

This paper explores the genetic basis of domestication traits in Bengalese finches, a songbird model, to understand how these traits evolved.

## Contribution

The study identifies genetic signals of selection in Bengalese finches and their wild ancestor, revealing parallels to mammalian domestication.

## Key findings

- Genome-wide analysis reveals strain-specific selection signals in the Bengalese finch and its wild ancestor.
- Domestication in songbirds involves shifts in brain circuits related to motivation and reward sensitivity.
- These findings parallel similar processes observed in mammalian domestication.

## Abstract

Many domesticated animals share a syndromic phenotype marked by a suite of traits that include more variable patterns of coloration, reduced stress, aggression, and altered risk-taking and exploratory behaviors relative to their wild counterparts. Roughly 150 years after Darwin’s pioneering insight into this phenomenon, reasonable progress has been made in understanding the evolutionary and biological basis of the so-called domesticated phenotype in mammals. However, the extent to which these processes are paralleled in non-mammalian domesticates is scant. Here, we address this knowledge gap by investigating the genetic basis of the domesticated phenotype in the Bengalese finch, a songbird frequently found in pet shops and a popular animal model in the study of learned vocal behaviors. Using whole-genome sequencing and population genomic approaches, we identify strain-specific selection signals in the BF and its wild munia ancestor. Our findings suggest that, like in mammals, the evolution of the domestication syndrome in avian species involves a shift in the selective regime, capable of altering brain circuits favoring the dynamic modulation of motivation and reward sensitivity over overall augmented aggression and stress responses.