Birds
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Created by:
Audreywinkle on October 30, 2010
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38 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Class Aves | Birds |
| Birds | Class Aves; made adaptations for flight, which include: foreappendages modified as feathered wings, endothemic, high metabolism, flexible neck, fused posterior vertebrae, bones lightened by numerous airspace.Have a horny bill that lacks teeth. |
| Keel | Part of bird which provides attachment for flight muscles |
| Furcula | Part of bird, also known as a wishbone, stores energy for recovery stroke |
| Uncinate processes | Part of bird, provides rigidity to trunk |
| Perching tendons | Part of bird, allow firm grip even when asleep |
| Adaptations for flight | 4-chambered heart, Endothermic, Forelimbs modified for flight |
| 4- Chambered Heart | flight adaptation. More efficient oxygen delivery; Circulatory system has 2 separate circuits for oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. |
| Endothermic | Flight adaptation. Regulate body temperature above ambient temperature relying on metabolic heat. |
| Forelimbs modified | Flight adaptatoin. Hand bones reduced and fused |
| The Hoatzin | Has visible wing claws as a chick. Wing claws fuse and become externally invisible. |
| Well-developed nervous system and sense organs | Excellent vision, Proportionately very large eyes, Large number of rods in retina of nocturnal birds, Large number of cones in retina of diurnal birds, Binocular vision, Most developed in owls. |
| Feather | Feathers are lightweight and flexible, yet impervious to air. May originally have evolved for insulation or display |
| Types of feathers | Pennaceous feathers and Plumulaceous feathers |
| Pennaceous feathers | Used for flight. Hooks (hamuli) allow feathers to spring back into shape even after a rough landing. |
| Plumulaceous feathers | Primarily for insulation. Include down feathers |
| Power stroke | flapping flight. wings move forward and down |
| Recovery stroke | flapping flight. returns the wings to the position from which the next power stroke will commence |
| Flapping flight | Power stroke; recovery stroke |
| Soaring Flight | Soaring on air currents (thermals), Saves energy, Allows for scavenging life style, Largest birds (vultures, condors) soar, Argentavis must have been a master soarer |
| Bird Evolution | In all probability, birds evolved from small theropod dinosaurs like Bambiraptor |
| Bird Ancestry | Skeletal similarities b/een primitive birds and dinosaurs known for over a century. Protein (collagen) fragments in T. rex fossil appear to most closely match amino acid sequences found in collagen of present-day chickens. |
| Modern Birds | Under the feathers, modern birds differ primarily in body size and shape of beaks and feet. |
| Hummingbird | Modern Bird: nectar-feeder |
| Eagle | Modern Bird: flesh tearer |
| Cardinal | Modern Bird: seed crusher |
| Flamingo | Modern Bird: plankton sifter |
| Bird Feet | Are based off of adatations to different lifestyles and modes of locomotion. example: Swimming for a duck, climbing for a woodpecker. |
| Terror Birds | Related to cranes, Different from any bird alive today, Dominant predators in S. America until rise of Central American land Bridge 3MYA, Titanis made it all the way to Florida and Texas |
| Phorusracids | Terror Birds |
| Bird Reproduction | Amniotic egg with a hard shell, Most birds lack intromittent organ, Many birds are territorial during breeding season, Birds are both monogamous and polyginous |
| Bird Digestive System | Crop stores food, stomach contains Proventriculus and Gizzard. |
| Proventriculus | secretes gastric juices |
| Gizzard | abrades and grinds food (birds have no teeth). Birds may swallow sand and pebbles to aid digestion |
| Clutch | Group of eggs |
| Clutch Size | Depends on both genetics and available resources. Some chicks practice sibling "murder" (ex.: Nazca booby) |
| Precocial chicks | can move about and find food. Usually covered with down Ex.: killdeer |
| Altricial chicks | helpless at hatching, Huge appetites - keep parents busy, Must be brooded constantly because endothermy is not developed, Many birds have brood patch Ex.: American robin |
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