Observations of motor behaviour of newly hatched and adult Japanese qu
ail in weightlessness on board the orbital station ''MIR'' have shown
that the innate motor instincts and reflexes indispensable under the c
onditions of the Earth gravity hinder the formation of adequate motor
behaviour in weightlessness. Therefore it seems that self-adaptation o
f hatchlings to these conditions is hardly possible. During the 7 flig
ht days the adult birds showed first signs of purposeful motor behavio
ur in agravitational environment using their wings for flying. This fa
cilitated the use of hind limbs to support the body in a stable state.
A new problem of animals' motor behaviour ontogeny in weightlessness
is subject for further studies.