Birds II: Adaptation and Ecology of Birds Flashcards
1
Q
Describe the structure of a feather
A
- vane and afterfeather
- pennaceous section and plumaceous section
2
Q
Describe the vane
A
- open pennaceous portion
- closed pennaceous portion
- plumulaceous portion
3
Q
Describe the afterfeather
A
- aftervane
- aftershaft
4
Q
Describe the pennaceous section
A
- barbs
- mechanical strutcure
5
Q
Describe the plumaceous section
A
- rachis
- calamus
- insulating
6
Q
List some feather types:
A
- wing
- down
- tail
- contour
- semiplume
- bristle
- filoplume
7
Q
Describe the movement of barbicels in proximal barbules
A
allows great flexibility as well as integrity
8
Q
barbicels
A
distal hooklets
9
Q
Describe a barb
A
- proximal barbule
- dorsal flange
- barb ramus
- distal barbule
- base and penulum
- hooklet
- barb ramus
10
Q
Describe modification of microstructure
A
typically modifies characteristics associated with thermal properties, waterproofing, aerodynamics
11
Q
Describe modification of macrostructure
A
typically modifies structural, or directly functional, properties of feathers
12
Q
Discuss the variation of secondary feathers
A
- Laysan Albatross: 40
- Rufous Hummingbird: 6
13
Q
How many primary feathers are there?
A
9-11
14
Q
Describe silent flight in owls
A
- serrated leading edge
- long, filamentous barbs on trailing edge
- break up larger air vortices over wing into many smaller ones
- reduces air turbulence and sound produced
15
Q
Woodpeckers
A
- highly thickened rachis in tail feathers as an additional support
16
Q
Give some sexually displaying birds
A
- Marvellous Spatuletail (hummingbird)
- Standard-winged Nightjar
17
Q
What are the consequences of feathers for bird evolution?
A
- annual cycle governed by the need to replace feathers during moults
- diversity of shapes, forms, structures and colours that feathers allow as complex colour vision facilitate high rates of speciation
- worldwide dispersal: migration to exploit ephemeral and seasonal habitats worldwide
18
Q
List some biochrome pigments
A
- melanins
- carotenoids
- porphyrins
19
Q
Describe biochrome pigments
A
some have functions such as melanin and wear
20
Q
Describe melanins
A
- black
- brown
- rufous
21
Q
Describe carotenoids
A
- from diet
- yellow
- orange
22
Q
Describe porphyrins
A
- green
- purple
23
Q
Describe structural colours
A
alteration of incident light, e.g. by coherent scattering from nm-scale particles
24
Q
Describe bird evolution
A
- 4 types of feather structure have been found in theropod dinosaurs that
are not found in birds - all current types also found
- developmental pathways that control feather development are homologous to those that control scale & hair development
- feathers are the default state in birds
- feather-like structures described from Pterosaurs
25
Pterosaurs
non-dinosaurian reptiles
26
Describe the feather development pathway
- expression of Fibroblast growth Factor (FGF) and Sonic hedgehog (Shh)
- development of epidermal placodes into denticles, scales, feathers and hair
27
Describe the development of an odontode
- wnt then Eda-Edar
- FGF then Shh
- epidermis = enamelled
- dermis = dentine
28
Describe the development of a Squamate scale
- wnt then Eda-Edar
- FGF then Shh
- epidermis: CBPs and K
29
Describe the development of a feather
- wnt then Eda-Edar
- FGF then Shh
- epidermis: CBPs and K
30
Describe the development of a hair
- wnt then Eda-Edar
- FGF then Shh
- epidermis: KAPs and cys-rich K
31
Beak structure is an exceptionally good guide to
feeding specialization
32
List some birds with interesting beaks
- flamingo
- shoveler
- avocet
- curlew
- mallard
- African skimmer
- macaw
- wren
- heron
- eagle
- swift
- crossbar
- green woodpecker
33
Describe ecological partitioning by beak size & shape
- probers go deep to shallow
- surface feeders go small to large
- pickers
- sweepers
34
Describe adaptive radiation of finches
- species evolving to exploit vacant niches
- niches suggested by variation in beak size and shape
35
List the different food sources of Darwin's finches
- fruit
- insects
- cacti
- seeds
36
Describe the different bills of Darwin's finches
- parrot-like
- grasping
- probing
- crushing
37
Delineate Darwin's finches
- tree finches
- warbler finch
- ground finches
38
List Darwin's fruit eating tree finch of a pattor-like bill
Vegetarian tree finch
39
List Darwin's insect eating tree finches of grasping bills
- large insectivorous tree finch
- small insectivorous tree finch
40
List Darwin's insect eating tree finches of probing bills
- wioodpecker finch
- warbler finch
41
Describe Darwin's cactus eating ground finch with a probing bill
Cactus ground finch
42
Describe Darwin's seed eating ground finches with crushing bills
- sharp-beaked ground finch
- small ground finch
- medium ground finch
- large ground finch
43
Describe the genetic roots of Darwin's finch radiation
- expression patterns of Calmodulin
- over-expression in chick embryos causes elongated bill morphology
44
Describe long distance movement through flight
a key adaptive feature of birds
45
Describe bird migratory capacity
- non-stop: 7008-11680 km
- 5.0 to 9.4 days
- 1067-1480 km day-1
- 8-10x higher metabolic rate continuously
- no sleep
46
Give some migratory birds
- Bar-tailed Godwit
- Arctic Terns
- common cuckoo
- red-back shriked
- thrush nightingale
47
Describe migration
- response to seasonality: allows exploitation of seasonal variation in productivity
- reflect the evolutionary history, and past effect of climate on a species
48
Describe Arctic Tern migration
- exploitation of daily solar energy flux
49
List 3 migration phenomena
- leapfrog migrations
- migratory divides
- ‘non-adaptive’ migratory routes
50
Describe leapfrog migration
- northern populations winter furthest south
- species breeding range spread progressively northward
- have to migrate further south to find unoccupied wintering areas
- almost all long-distance migrants show similar pattern
51
Give an example of leapfrog migration
swallow in Europe; N Scandinavian populations winter furthest south in Africa
52
Describe migratory divide
- population shows split in migration direction
- hypothesis: species existed in two refugia in last glaciation
- current pattern an evolutionary relic of migration patterns evolved during last glaciation
53
Give an example of migratory divide
- Willow warbler
- one in SW Europe, one in SE Europe
54
Describe ‘non-adaptive’ migratory routes
species migrating unnecessarily far
55
Describe non-adaptive wheateater migration
- colonisation of eastern N America from the East
- colonisation of western N America from the West
- 18000km (as opposed to 11000)
56
Describe Blackcap migration - the basics
- common migrant to the UK and much of Europe
- breeds in summer
- migrates to N Africa in winter
-insectivorous in summer; frugivorous in winter
- migratory timing & direction strongly inherited
- rather than migrating SW, migrating NW
