Test 1

Question 1

Define Feathers:

Answer 1

• filamentous, soft in texture, flexible, lightweight structures with extraordinarily diverse functions.

• dead structures that wear easily, and they must be replaced regularly through molt.

• Feathers are essential for both temperature regulation and flight. They insulate the body, repel water, and help birds to maintain their high body temperature. Lightweight and strong, the long feathers of the wing generate lift and thrust for flight.

• The wide variety of feather colors and coloration patterns are used by birds for camouflage and for social and sexual communication.

Question 2

Define Beak

Answer 2

• varies greatly in form and function but is always toothless and covered with a horny sheath

Question 3

Define gizzard and its function:

Answer 3

•Birds lack teeth that chew food before swallowing. Consequently, the avian digestive system is specialized to process unmasticated food. Instead of teeth, birds have a gizzard.

• The avian gizzard—a functional analogue of mammalian molars—is a large, strong, muscular structure used primarily for grinding and digesting tough food.

Question 4

Define carpometacarpus

Answer 4

carpometacarpus, or fused hand bones, supports and maneuvers the large and powerful primary flight feathers.

Question 5

Define Tibiotarsus and Tarsometatarsus

Answer 5

the avian ankle joint is positioned in the middle of the foot (or tarsal) bones. On either side of the ankle, birds have unique, fused leg bones called the tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus. For stable balance on land, a bird’s center of gravity is positioned directly over and between its feet, particularly when the bird perches, squats, or rises. The equal length of the tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus of long-legged birds ensures this relation.

Question 6

Define Hallux:

Answer 6

The large, reversed, opposable first rear toe, or hallux, enhances the ability of birds to grip a branch or prey item and is unique among vertebrates

Question 7

Define Endothermic:

Answer 7

they are warm-blooded and maintain high body temperatures (40°–44°C) over a wide range of ambient temperatures.

The circulatory and respiratory systems of birds include a powerful four-chambered heart and efficient, unidirectional lungs, which deliver fuel and remove both waste and heat produced by metabolic activities.

Question 8

Define egg:

Answer 8

that are richly provisioned with a large yolk and protected by a hard shell of calcium carbonate

Question 9

Define Syrinx

Answer 9

The syrinx of birds is a unique sound-producing structure, and it provides birds with more complex and diverse sound production capabilities than any other animals.

(In contrast with the syrinx, the sound-producing larynx of mammals constrains mammalian vocalizations by its structural simplicity. The larynx is homologous with the avian hyoid apparatus, which became the bony tongue of birds. The syrinx evolved only after the evolution of the avian bony tongue led to selection for a new vocal sound production apparatus.)

Question 10

What is structure #1

Answer 10

Furcula

Question 11

What is structure #2

Answer 11

Bill/Beak

Question 12

What is the structure #3

Answer 12

Uncinate processes

Question 13

What is structure #4

Answer 13

Keeled sternum

Question 14

What is the structure #5

Answer 14

Mesotarsal ankle

Question 15

What is structure #6

Answer 15

Carpometacarpus

Question 16

What is structure #7

Answer 16

Tibiotarsus

Question 17

What is structure #8

Answer 17

Tarsometatarsus

Question 18

What is structure #1

Answer 18

Ankle joint

Question 19

What is structure #2

Answer 19

Hallux

Question 20

Define Adaptive Radiation include examples:

Answer 20

A phenomenon where great diversity develops due to the evolution of various species adapting to different ecologies and behaviors

Examples:
Beak sizes and shapes
Leg length
Wing shape…

Question 21

Define Maxilla and Trabeculae

Answer 21

The bones of the avian beak, jaws, and palate are an engineer’s delight. The upper mandible, or maxilla, is a flattened, hollow, bony cone reinforced internally by a complex system of bony struts called trabeculae.

These struts make the beak much stronger than a hollow mandible but add little weight.

Question 22

Define Rhamphotheca

Answer 22

The Keratin covering on the beak

Question 23

Nasofrontal hinge

Answer 23

Responsive for cranial kinesis

Question 24

Adaptive radiation in morphology, ecology, and life history is the result of a process known as?

Answer 24

Evolutionary adaptation

Question 25

Natural selection

Answer 25

is the differential survival of individual organisms with advantageous traits. (If the traits are heritable, then survivial will result in adaptive evolutionary change among generations. Well adapted individuals live longer and produce more offspring.)

Question 26

Convergence

Answer 26

the independent evolution of similar adaptations in unrelated organisms

Question 27

Biogeography

Answer 27

is the study of the geographical distributions of plants and animals. For more than a century, biogeographers have divided Earth into six major faunal regions corresponding roughly to the major continental areas.

Question 28

What are the 6 major faunal regions

Answer 28

Nearctic, Neotropical, Palearctic, Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Australasian

Question 29

Endemic

Answer 29

Each faunal region has its characteristic birds: so-called endemic taxa or species, which are found nowhere else, and other birds that represent major adaptive radiations of more widespread taxa

Question 30

What characteristics do birds and reptiles share?

Answer 30

• Scales • Lay eggs • Skull of both articulate with the 1st neck vertebrae by means of a single ball and socket device- the Occipital Condyle • Simple middle ear with/ one ear bone - the Stapes • Ankle is located in the middle of the tarsal bones (foot)

Question 31

Occipital Condyle

Answer 31

Skull of both articulate with the 1st neck vertebrae by means of a single ball and socket device

Question 32

Simple middle ear with/ one ear bone

Answer 32

Stapes

Question 33

Tarsal bones

Question 34

Avifaunas

Answer 34

regional assemblages of bird species—are mixtures of species of varied ages and origins.

Question 35

*Archaeopteryx lithographica*

Answer 35

the earliest known fossil bird 1877: Feathered reptile found fossilized in ancient coastal lagoon in Germany Crow-sized, bipedal reptile with tiny reptilian teeth and bony tail, but also had feathers on wings and tail with a backwards pointing toe called a Hallux. Archeopteryx’s primary (flight) feathers had asymmetrical vanes. Vanes are the planar surfaces of feathers, on either side of the feather shaft. Most modern birds that fly have asymmetrical vanes, especially strong fliers

Question 36

Archosaurs

Answer 36

are a specific group of reptiles that include alligators and crocodiles, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs

Question 37

All archosaurs have:

Answer 37

• Distinctive hole in side of skull, in front of eye socket, called antorbital fenestra • Advanced parental care behavior

Question 38

Antorbital fenestra

Answer 38

a distinctive hole in the side of the skull in front of the eye socket

Question 39

Vanes

Answer 39

the planar surfaces of feathers, on either side of the feather shaft.

Question 40

Phylogenetic Tree

Answer 40

is a diagram that depicts evolutionary relationships (a phylogeny) among organisms • Branches represent historic species evolving through time • Nodes are points where branches split off, indicating a speciation event producing new lineages • Clades represent all descendents (living or extinct) with a common ancestor.

Question 41

Clades

Answer 41

Represent all dependents (living or extinct) w/ a common ancestor

Question 42

Homologs

Answer 42

Similarities inherited from a common ancestor Examples: Wings of all birds are homologs

Question 43

Pygostyle

Answer 43

a special bone created by a fusion of the vertebrae at the tip of the tail (important for flight)

Question 44

Theropods

Answer 44

The phylogenetic sister group to the sauropods are the bipedal, meat-eating dinosaurs called theropods, which include the famous Allosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, Oviraptor, and Velociraptor. Birds are living theropod dinosaurs that are most closely related to the dromaeosaurs like Deinonychus and Velociraptor and to Troodon (see Figure 2–4).

Question 45

Quill knobs

Answer 45

Where the feathers meet the ulna

Question 46

Archaeopteryx evolved in what period? What are some of their shared characteristics with birds?

Answer 46

Late Jurassic period Shared characteristics of birds and Archeopteryx: Reversed hallux Unserrate teeth 25 or fewer tail vertebrae

Question 47

Birds evolved definitive characteristics during mesozoic period that are found in the fossil records including?

Answer 47

Greatly reduced tail Eventual loss of teeth Fused tarsometatarsus in leg Fused carpometacarpus in wing Changes in feathers, wings, and shoulders that allowed for advanced flight strokes Mesozoic birds ranged in size from sparrow-like to vulture-like.

Question 48

The evolution of feathers and flight

Answer 48

Feathers NOT unique to birds Were found in fossil evidence of theropod dinosaurs Found on more than a dozen non-avian theropod dinosaurs Feathers did not originate in concert with flight Flight Avian flight evolved AFTER the origin of complex, vaned feathers Two basic theories of flight: Arboreal (Gliding) Cursorial (Running) However, Archaeopteryx likely employed BOTH behaviors

Question 49

Two basic theories of flight:

Answer 49

Arboreal (Gliding) Cursorial (Running)