Abstract

The intention with this research was to validate the mitochondrial coloration technique within 54 red-winged tinamou (Rhynchotus rufescens) sperm samples obtained through manual massage and excitation and to quantify the reduction of the mitochondrial activity of these animals’ sperm, after the dilution and preservation, under refrigeration, for 24 and 48 hr, using the 3,3’diaminobenzidina (DAB) tint. After concluding this research, we observed that there was no correlation during the expected time we had tested for. For this reason, it was not possible to validate the coloration or to quantify the reduction of the mitochondrial cells’ sperm activity of this species through the process of dilution and cooling. Possible reasons for this result are: 1) That motility is not as vital to the bird’s spermatozoon as it is to mammal’s (in some bird species females have sperm host glands that maintain sperm for fertilization for a variable period of time); 2) It is possible that avian spermatozoon may have unknown properties or behaviour different from mammal spermatozoa, like the fact that they acquire motility just after ejaculation. Therefore, the coloration technique described here may not be used to measure or to be related to motility and could not be validated in this specie (Rhynchotus rufescens). Consequently, it was not possible to quantify the percentage reduction of mitochondrial activity during the sperm dilution and refrigeration processes.