= White-rumped munia
The <white-rumped munia>, Lonchura striata, is a <songbird> whose domesticated descendant is the <Bengalese finch>. The two forms are useful for studying how behavior differs between a wild lineage and a lineage maintained under <domestication>. A domesticated form is not automatically a separate <species>.<Effects of domestication on neophobia: A comparison between the domesticated Bengalese finch and its wild ancestor, the white-rumped munia by Kenta Suzuki and others>[Title and Introduction: ancestral wild and domesticated forms]{ref}
A 2021 experiment compared feeding when an unfamiliar object was present. Groups of <white-rumped munias> were less likely to feed and waited longer than <Bengalese finch> groups under the novel-object conditions. This was interpreted as a difference in <neophobia>, avoidance of unfamiliar things. The wild-caught <white-rumped munias> had already spent more than a year in laboratory housing before testing, so wild origin and immediate testing environment were distinct features of the design.<Effects of domestication on neophobia: A comparison between the domesticated Bengalese finch and its wild ancestor, the white-rumped munia by Kenta Suzuki and others>[Abstract; Birds used in this study; Responses to novel objects]{ref}
A longer feeding delay does not alone identify a uniquely inherited fear mechanism. Prior experience, housing and the <social group> used in a test can affect behavior. The comparison supplies a measured behavioral contrast, while the full evolutionary explanation requires evidence beyond the contrast itself.
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