NEM 10V Lecture Notes - Lecture 39: Amniote, Motor Coordination, Nematology
Nematology
Part 13 Birds:
• Birds are descended from dinosaurs.
• One of the first birdlike species Archaeopteryx was a reptile modified for flight.
• Bird feathers are modified scales.
• Birds still retain reptilian like scales on their legs.
• Brain areas that control flight and motor function are particularly well developed in birds
because flight requires acute vision, and excellent motor coordination.
• Brains of birds are larger than those of reptiles and amphibians and allow birds to engage
in complex behaviors such as:
1. nest building,
2. raising offspring,
3. navigating long distances during seasonal migrations.
• They have a four-chambered heart that pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs and
oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body in separate circuits.
• The structure of the beak adapts a bird to feed on a particular type of food.
• Female birds lay eggs that have four membranes characteristic of amniote eggs.
• Bird eggs have a rigid shell hardened by calcium carbonate.
• Birds are endotherms, and their eggs must be kept warm in order for the embryos to
develop.
• One or both parents incubate the eggs until they are ready to hatch.
• Unlike reptiles, many birds hatch in a relatively undeveloped state, and require extensive
parental care before they can live on their own.
• Many birds migrate seasonally over well-established predictable north-south corridors
called flyways.
• Avian flu virus has killed millions of domestic chickens and turkeys.
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