EEB386H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Latvian Lats
Document Summary
Functional morphology of beak opening and closing. Together these adaptations have probably contributed to modern bird success. Fish- eating birds such as mergansers have serrate tomia to grip prey. A variety of mainly insect- eating birds have brush- like tomia (scopate tomia) Flamingoes and some waterfowl have baleen- like tomia which act as strainers to filter food particles from water. The mandibular tomia of geese are used to crop grass. The bird"s skull is kinetic (cranial kinesis); the upper jaw can move independent of the cranium. In prokinetic beaks, the upper jaw flexes upwards at the craniofacial hinge, a region of flexible bone. Some species can also flex their upper jaw mid- way along the jaw (rhynchokinetic) A forceful bite of the lower jaw cracks the seed and the lower jaw is pushed in the. Once the seed is in the reversed position, the lower jaw husks the other side of the seed.