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Bird anatomy, or the physiological structure of birds' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight.Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatory and respiratory systems capable of very high metabolic rates and oxygen supply, permit the bird to fly.
The furcula (Latin for "little fork"; pl.: furculae) [a] or wishbone is a forked bone found in most birds and some species of non-avian dinosaurs, and is formed by the fusion of the two clavicles. [1] In birds, its primary function is in the strengthening of the thoracic skeleton to withstand the rigors of flight.
This stylised bird skeleton highlights the synsacrum Pelvis of a Gull; formed by the Synsacrum (fused vertebrae placed centrally) and the two innominate bones either side. The synsacrum is a skeletal structure of birds and other dinosaurs, in which the sacrum is extended by incorporation of additional fused or partially fused caudal or lumbar ...
Most birds have four toes, typically three facing forward and one pointing backward. [7] [10] [8] In a typical perching bird, they consist respectively of 3, 4, 5 and 2 phalanges. [2] Some birds, like the sanderling, have only the forward-facing toes; these are called tridactyl feet while the ostrich have only two toes (didactyl feet).
Notarium or os dorsale is a bone consisting of the fused vertebra of the shoulder in birds and some pterosaurs. The structure helps brace the chest against the forces generated by the wings. In birds, the vertebrae are only in contact with adjacent vertebrae and ribs, while in some pterosaurs the notarium articulates with the scapula.
Birds (class Aves) – winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most varied of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic, to the Antarctic.
In birds, it is an enlargement of the bones of the upper mandible or the skull, either on the front of the face, the top of the head, or both. The casque has been hypothesized to serve as a visual cue to a bird's sex, state of maturity, or social status; as reinforcement to the beak's structure; or as a resonance chamber, enhancing calls. [4]
The bones of three fingers are preserved in the bird wing. The question of which fingers they are has been discussed for about 150 years, and an extensive literature is devoted to it. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The anatomical, paleontological, and molecular data suggests that these are fingers 1–3, but embryological data suggests that these are actually ...