In other species: birds , chicken , turkey , Japanese quail

Categories: Limbs / fins / digit / tail phene

Mendelian trait/disorder: unknown

Disease-related: no

Cross-species summary: "Flight in birds evolved through patterning of the wings from forelimbs and transition from alternating gait to synchronous flapping. In mammals, the spinal midline guidance molecule ephrin-B3 [EFNB3] instructs the wiring that enables limb alternation, and its deletion leads to synchronous hopping gait." (Haimson et al. 2021)

Species-specific description: Haimson et al. (2021) "show that the ephrin-B3 protein in birds lacks several motifs present in other vertebrates, diminishing its affinity for the EphA4 receptor. The avian ephrin-B3 gene [EFNB3] lacks an enhancer that drives midline expression and is missing in galliforms."