Japanese quail are minor production birds when compared to chickens which have become a leading animal model due to recent breakthroughs in chicken research, such as genome sequence and genetically modified primordial germ cells. It might seem, therefore, that the quail has little to offer that the chicken could not provide, both commercially and scientifically. With examples drawn from recent genetic studies on the quail at INRA, this paper shows that, on the contrary, research on quail may not only bring results which are chicken-complementary, but also provide new knowledge because of the proximity of the two genera Coturnix and Gallus.
