Lab VI: Survey of the Living Archosaurs Flashcards
1
Q
Describe the characteristics of the bird skull
A
- Upper and lower fenestra in temporal region of skull (diapsid) and additional opening in front of eye
- Skull bones are fused with one occipital condyle
- Loss of teeth on maxilla and dentary; well developed beak with keratinized covering
- Single bone in middle ear
2
Q
Describe the characteristics of the bird skeleton
A
- Ossified skeleton; many bones hollow
- Ribs with strengthening processes
- Sternum (breastbone) with well-developed keel in most
- Keel = anchor for wing muscles to attach to
- Forelimbs modified for flying; hindlimbs modified for perching, walking, swimming
- Foor with four toes (most); hand with three fingers
- Sacral vertebrae fused to each other and to pelvic girdle (synsacrum)
- Overall reduction in size and number of skeletal elements
3
Q
Describe the integument of birds
A
- Outer covering of feathers; scales on legs
- Thin skin with few skin glands
- Oil gland (uropygial) at base of tail
4
Q
Describe bird circulation and respiration
A
- Four-chambered heart; persistent right aortic arch
- Nucleated RBCs
- Respiration by slightly expansible lungs with air sacs among the viscera and skeletal elements
- Syrinx (voice box) near junction of trachea and bronchi (air duct to lungs)
5
Q
Are birds endotherms or ectotherms?
A
- Endotherms
6
Q
Describe the excretory system of birds
A
- Paired kidneys; duct from kidney open into cloaca
- No urinary bladder
- Uric acid main nitrogenous waste
7
Q
Describe reproduction in birds
A
- Sexes separate; males with paired testes; females with left ovary and oviduct only
- Internal fertilization
- Amniotic egg with large amount of yolk and calcareous shell; incubation always external (oviparous)
- Young born active and covered in feathers (precocial) or helpless and naked (altricial)
8
Q
What are feathers?
A
- Highly modified epidermal scales
- (Birds have more typical epidermal scales on their legs and feet)
9
Q
What type of feather is this?
What is its function?
A
- Filoplume
- Sensory function
- Provides feedback on contour feather activity
10
Q
What type of feather is this?
What is its function?
A
- Contour feather
- Outer feathers; give colour and shape to bird; strong and stiff - aid in flight; provide some insulation
11
Q
What type of feather is this?
What is its function?
A
- Down
- Function is to insulate bird by trapping air
12
Q
What type of feather is this?
What is its function?
A
- Semiplume
- Mix between a contour and down feather
- Provides shape (by streamlining bird) and insulation
13
Q
What type of feather is this?
What is its function?
A
- Bristle feather
- Sensory function
- Small and stiff contour feathers like whiskers
14
Q
What are the two main factors that affect feather colouration?
A
- Pigments: Carotenoids and melanins
- Structural colour: Resulting from breaking up and reflection of light by physical structure of feather itself (e.g., blue feathers rely on structure of feather and rarely on pigments)
15
Q
What are the three uses of colour that birds employ?
What are the different types of these colourations?
A
- Anti-predation colouration
- Concealment or cryptic
- Countershading (e.g., penguin)
- Deflective (e.g., rump patch on killdeer)
- Social colouration
- Sexual dimorphism (physical differences between sexes)
- E.g., mallards, pheasants
- Status signaling (mate attraction)
- E.g., peacocks
- Sexual dimorphism (physical differences between sexes)
- Physiological colouration
- Reduction of wear and tear (e.g., increase melanin granules (black) at tip of feather in many migratory birds to make feathers tougher
16
Q
What is referred to as when individuals of the same birds species display different adult morphs?
Do these morphs breed with each other?
A
- Polymorphism
- Yes, morphs interbreed
17
Q
What are the three times that molting occurs?
A
- Natal
- Juvenal
- First winter
18
Q
Give an example of a type of sexual dimorphism with respect to changes in plumage in adult birds?
A
- Plumage changes with age in adult birds and can vary dramatically between sexes
19
Q
What is seasonal molting?
A
- In some species there is a marked difference in adult’s breeding plumage and plumage outside breeding season
- Molting is energetically expensive and most adults molt only twice annually
20
Q
What are the characteristics of the crocodile skull?
A
- Skull with upper and lower fenestra (openings) in temporal region of skull (diapsid) and additional opening in front of eye
- Skull elongate and massive
- Nares terminal
- Secondary palate present
- Jaws with teeth set in sockets
21
Q
What are the characteristics of crocodile skeletons?
A
- Limbs are well developed and paired with forelimb ending in five digits and hindlimb ending with four digits
- Limbs extend laterally from the side of the body
22
Q
Describe crocodile integument
A
- Epidermal scales cover feet and ventral surfaces; bony dermal plates cover the back
23
Q
Describe respiration and circulation in crocodiles
A
- Four-chambered heart
- Secondary palate allows animal to eat and breathe simultaneously
24
Q
Are crocodiles endotherms or ectotherms?
A
- Ectotherms
25
Q
Describe the excretory system of crocodiles
A
- Paired kidneys
- Uric acid main nitrogenous waste
26
Q
Describe reproduction in crocodiles
A
- Sexes separate
- Amniotic egg with shell; oviparous
27
Q
Infraclass
Order
Family
A
- Infraclass Diapsida
- Order Crocodilia
- Family Alligatoridae
- Complete overbite, broader snout (usually)
28
Q
Infraclass
Order
Family
A
- Infraclass Diapsida
- Order Crocodilia
- Familiy Crocodilidae
- At least one tooth going up past upper margin of jaw, narrow snout (usually)
29
Q
Infraclass
Order
Family
A
- Infraclass Diapsida
- Order Crocodilia
- Family Gavialidae
- Long, skinny snout
30
Q
What subclass and order is Archaeopteryx in?
A
- Archaeornithes
- Order Archaeopterygians
31
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Palaeognathae
- Flightless birds of Southern continent
- Shared feature of jaw and skull, flat beaks, strong legs
32
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Podicipediformes
- Common name = grebe
- Medium to large aquatic birds; legs have lobed toes with feet to the rear of their body (look like a loon but feet are NOT webbed)
- Agile swimmers and divers with difficulty moving on land
- Pointed bill, eat fish and inertebrates
33
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Sphenisciformes
- Expert swimmers propelled with wings (modified into flippers)
- Steer with webbed hind feet
- Eat shrimp, squid, fish
- Southern hemisphere, closely related to Procellariformes
34
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Common names?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Procellariformes
- Petrels and albatrosses
- Medium to large birds
- Nostrils housed in tubes
- Strong fliers modified for oceanic life, come to shore to breed
- Eat squid, fish, shrimp
35
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Common names?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Pelicaniformes
- Pelicans and cormorants
- Large; adapted for diving and swimming; strong fliers
- Strong bills with distinctive webbed feet
- Dive for prey (fish)
- All four digits enclosed in webbing (unlike ducks)
- Gular pouch (wrinkled in specimens)
36
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Anseriformes (ducks, geese, and swans = waterfowl)
- Extensive migration in most
- Flattened bill for a variety of diets - some filter feed, some eat mollusks, fish
- All with webbed feet
37
Q
Waterfowl
A
- Order Anseriformes
- Worldwide; marine or freshwater
- Migratory and gregarious
- Colonial and solitary nesters; monogamous or polygamous
- Both sexes or only female incubate eggs
- Young = precocial
38
Q
Swans
A
- Order Anseriformes
- Largest of waterfowl
- Short legs, long neck (outstretched in flight)
- Use long neck to tear up roots and pond weeds
- Have short, strong bills
39
Q
Geese
A
- Larger than ducks, longer legs to walk easily
- Feed on uplands where they graze on green shoots of grass and weeds, tearing them up easily with short, strong bills
40
Q
Dabbling Ducks
A
- Frequent grassy sloughs, marshes, and shallow margins of lakes (reach bottom by tipping and diving)
- Many species regularly feed on land
- Fly easily out of water/on land
- Bristles on margins of bill allow them to strain excess water from food
- Less sturdy and feet not as far back as diving ducks
41
Q
Diving ducks
A
- Heavy-bodied ducks commonly found on lakes and rivers
- Secure food by diving for prey beneath surface
- Short wings, patter along water for a short distance before becoming airborne
- Hind toe has broad, flat lobe
- Feet farther back than dabbling ducks
42
Q
Mersangers
A
- “Fish ducks”
- Diving ducks that live on small fish and other forms of aquatic animal life
- Long, narrow bill with serrated edges to hold in prey
43
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Ciconiiformes
- Herons, Ibises
- Characteristics
- Large, long-legged birds
- Live in marshes, feed on fish and large insects
- Strong fliers, some with long migrations
- Herons have hair on head
44
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Falconiformes
- Characteristics:
- Birds of prey
- Medium to large, hunt by day
- Strong, sharp, curved bills; powerful claws and feet
- Flapping flight or soaring
- Most eat birds, mammals, some carrion, amphibians, reptiles
- Large talons, hooked beak (3 claws in front, 1 in back)
45
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Galliformes
- Characteristics:
- Medium to large terrestrial, grain-eating birds, foragers
- Good runners, capable or short, rapid flight
- Often differences between sexes in size, plumage, etc.
- Small “bristles” on toes
- Pecking bills
46
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Common names?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Gruiformes
- “Marsh birds” - worldwide in salt and fresh water marshes, forests, and lakes
47
Q
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Order Gruiformes
- Coot
- “Bald”; lobed feet
- Larger than rails, toes have flat, scalloped lobes on sides; bills extend onto forehead
- Commonly swim on open water, mistaken for ducks
- Grass and reed nests with 7-12 nests
- Overwinter in Southern US
48
Q
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Order Gruiformes
- Rail
- Only bird in lab with bright yellow beak!
- Marsh birds, long legs, large feet, small and weak wings
- Rails skulk in reeds, flight only as last resort
49
Q
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Order Gruiformes
- Cranes
- Stout-pointed bills; large, long legs
- Part of face and much of crown is devoid of feathers
- Fly with legs and wings extended
- Nest on ground and in marshes/muskeg areas
- Usually produce 2 eggs
- Winter in Southern US and Mexico
50
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Common names?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Charadriiformes (tricky order!)
- Common names: plovers, sandpipers, avocets, phalaropes, gulls, terns, puffins etc.)
- Very diverse
- Diverse array of reproductive behaviours
- Most young precocial
- Care of nests and young by both sexes
51
Q
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Order Charadriiformes
- Common name: Plover
- Compact wading birds; usually in small flocks
- Short, stout bills (small bump at tip of beak)
- 3 toes on each foot
- Feed on upland meadows or in cultivated fields and along shoreline
- Nest on ground; lay ~4 eggs
52
Q
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Order Charadriiformes
- Common name: Sandpiper
- Small to medium sized; gregarious
- Live in wetlands/along shoreline
- Long legs and/or long bills
- Eat small invertebrates
- Nest on ground, lay ~4 years
53
Q
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Order Charadriiformes
- Common name: Phalarope
- Small, swimming shorebirds (spend more time on water than on land)
- Toes partially webbed, move with whirling motion
- Remarkable reversal of some sexual activities: female is larger, has bright colours, initiates mating; male is dull, incubates eggs, and cares for young
54
Q
Order?
Common name?
Characteristics?
A
- Order Charadriiformes
- Common name: gulls and terns
- Medium to large; strong gliers and able swimmers
- Adapted to terrestrial and aquatic environments
- Worldwide
- Gulls: Scavenge along lakes, rivers, oceans; overwinter in coastal regions
- Terns: eat fish, usually found near water; breed in colonies; overwinter in Mexico or South America
55
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Gaviiformes
- Loons
- Divers, aquatic birds of Northern lakes
- Wrim with webbed feet, pursue fish and large invertebrates under water
- Heavy bodied; strong pointed bill; webbed feet and short, stiff tails
- Toes move freely (no other part of leg does)
- Strong swimmers, awkward on land
- Sit low on water
- Dive when alarmed; can submerge bodies gradually until only head is exposed
- Monogamous; nests of reeds/weeds on ground near shoreline; produce 2 eggs; both sexes incubate and feed young
56
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Strigiformes
- Specialized for silent hunting at night
- Resemble Falconiformes (convergent) in beaks, claws, feet
- Detect prey by sound; many specializations for acute hearing
- Eyes contain mostly rods and are directed forward
- Feathers modified to make little noise during flight
- Medium to large species eat birds and mammals; small species eat insects
- Flat face, hooked bill, large talons, zygodactyl (2 claws in front; 2 claws in back)
57
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Caprimulgiformes
- Nighthawks
- Ample tails, large eyes, tiny bills, short legs
- Nocturnal
- Insect eaters –> spectacular fliers because they pick off insects in flight
- Very small, pointed bill with sensory bristles around it
- Very large mouth gape
58
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Apodiformes
- Small, well adapted to aerial life
- Stiff, long wings; short humerus and elongated hand
- Tiny feet and legs
- Swifts catch insects while glying
- Hummingbirds: Nectar feeders, feed while hovering (long bill)
- Swift: Small, crossed wings
59
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
Characteristics?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Coraciiformes
- Kingfishers
- Tropical
- Medium to small tree-dwelling birds
- Brightly coloured, large bills
- Feed on small vertebrates, large invertebrates
- NOT aquatic, no webbed feet (pointed bill)
60
Q
Subclass?
Superorder?
Order?
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Piciformes
- Medium to small tree-dwelling birds
- Many tropical
- Woodpeckers climb and bore for living insects in wood
- Powerful hard bills; protrusible tongue
- Tail feathers to support bird as it climbs (thick tail)
- Thick bill
- Also includes toucans!
61
Q
Subclass
Superorder
Order
Characteristics
A
- Subclass Neornithes
- Superorder Neognathae
- Order Passeriformes
- Huge diversity (3/5 species of birds; mostly small)
- Terrestrial
- 4 toes; 3 in front, 1 in back
- Complex reproductive behaviour
- Audio communication, many with complex songs
- Diet = insects, seeds, fruit, nectar
- E.g., swallows, crows, magpies, chickadees, etc.
- Different bill types, colourful, thin tail base
62
Q
Genus species
A
Pica hudsonia
63
Q
Genus species
A
Corvus brachyrhynchos
64
Q
Genus species
A
Corvus corax
65
Q
Genus species
A
Cyanocitta cristata
66
Q
Genus species
A
Perisoreus canadensis
