Preliminary Study on the Level of Evolutionary Differentiation between Domestic Quails and Wild Japanese Quails

This paper makes an analysis of the ecological behaviours of 3 categories of quails, namely wild Japanese quails from the Weishan Lake Area, medium-sized domestic quails and pint-sized domestic quails. The study indicates as follows: (1) There is difference in morphological and biological habits between domestic quails and wild Japanese ones. (2) The cross-breeding between the wild and domestic quails is a cross from exclusion to affinity. (3) The behaviours of quails such as pursuit,paw and mating are selective. (4) The wild Japanese quails and domestic ones can succeed in mating and in reproducing fertilized eggs but with a low rate. (5) Evolutionary differentiation has been formed in varying degrees between the domestic quails and their wild ancestors in morphological and ecological characteristics.