Lecture 37 - Avian anatomy Flashcards
What is the composition of avian bone?
Light, compact, and strong
Greater calcium phosphate content
What is different about the vertebrae of birds?
Considerable fusion of the spine
How are the bones modified for air sacs?
Pneumatization
What is different about the pelvis in birds?
Open ventrally
What are the three regions of the avian spine?
Notorium - Synsacrum - Pygostyle
What makes up the notorium?
Fusion of T 1-3
What makes up the synsacrum?
Fusion of T7, L, S, and C1
What makes up the pygostyle?
C 2-5
What are the two major extrinsic flight muscles?
Pectoralis
– and –
Supracoracoideus
What is the action of the pectoralis?
Pull the wings down
What is the action of the supracoracoideus?
Raise the wings
What are the major characteristics of the digestive organs in birds?
Relatively small
Highly efficient due to high metabolic rate
What is different about the avian stomach?
Crop - esophageal diverticulum
Two chambered stomach
What is the cloaca?
Digestive, urinary, and reproduction terminus
What is the function of the crop?
Food storage
Partial food digestion
Production of crop milk
What is crop milk?
Crumbly material made of desquamated lipid-laden epithelial cells mix with ingested food
What is partially digested in the crop?
Carbohydrates via amylase
What avians are missing a crop?
Owls, gulls, and penguins
What are the two portions of the stomach?
Proventriculus
Ventriculus
What is the function of the Proventriculus?
Glandular stomach - contains glands that secrete hydrochloric acin and mucous