IBIO 360 Exam 2

Archaeopteryx

"ancient wing," oldest known bird, asymmetrical flight feather and fossil from mid-Jurassic 150 MYA found in Solnhofen in 1860-1

beta-keratin

A fiber protein that is the principal component of feathers (90%), long lasting, resistant to microbial attack

Paleognathae

All extant sp flightless, flighted ancestors in N Hemisphere, split from Ornithurines in Cretaceous, flightlessness/gigantism evolved independently after dispersal to Gondwanan landmasses

oceanic islands

An island that rises from the ocean floor, high endemism, weedy tramp sp from multiple regions, extinction rampant, small avifauna

Caribbean, Andes, African mountains, Indonesia

Area with the greatest endemic sp richness

SE Brazil, Indonesia

Area with the greatest threatened sp richness

Lee Creek

Collection of Miocene-Pliocene fossils, old Phosphate mine, mostly fragmented and unassociated, most diverse/abundant Pliocene marine avifauna

Wing propelled diving

Common feature of Plotopterids, Auks, and Procellariiformes

Allopatry

Condition in which two or more populations live in different geographic areas, leads to speciation

sympatry

Condition in which two or more populations live in the same geographic area, or close enough to permit interbreeding

Allochrony

Speciation that occurs when species within the same range breed at different times

Pelagornithids

Extinct "false-toothed birds" in order Odontopterygiformes, 59-2.5 MYA, fragmentary thin bones, includes largest ever flying bird, marine, pseudoteeth are bony outgrowths for holding prey

Confuciusornis

Extinct Cretaceous group (125-120 MYA), order Confuciusornithiformes, toothless and beaked, heavy non-kinetic skull, pygostyle, small sternal keel, hole in humerus, wing claws, no alula, scalation like modern birds, abundant

Ichthyornis

Extinct Cretaceous group (89-83.5 MYA), toothed, fish-like biconcave vertebrae, strong fliers, gull-like, rapid growth

Enantiornithes

Extinct Cretaceous group, worldwide, diverse, toothed, wing claws, small, different articulation between scapula and coracoid, long pygostyle, long central rectrices, slow growth

Presbyornis

Extinct Eocene group (62-55 MYA), widespread, early waterfowl relative, filter-feeder, colonial, mass deaths due to botulism?

Hesperornis

Extinct Late Cretaceous group (84-78 MYA), large, flightless, aquatic, inland marine seas, toothed beak, foot-propelled divers, legs possibly attached to body up to ankle, long cnemial crest

Gastornithiformes

Extinct group containing Gastornis "terror-bird," Paleocene-Eocene (56-45 MYA), N Hemisphere, basal to Anseriformes, herbive (calcium isotopes, jaw musculature, legs, claws, beak)

Teratornithidae

Extinct group of Late Miocene vultures (8 MYA), heavy bill and broad gape, New World, heaviest flying bird, dependent on mountain updrafts, scavenged or grabbed large slow prey

Paleolodus

Extinct lineage of swimming flamingos, abundant

Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction

Extinction event about 65 MYA, caused extinction of all Enantiornithes and nearly all Ornithurines, followed by explosive adaptive radiation

Dromornithidae

Family from Oligocene to recent times (25 MYA- 20 KYA), large Galloanseres, Australia, hooflike foot, unhooked beak, no keel, herbivore, "thunderduck"

Mohoidae

Family of O'os, five sp all extinct between 1860-1987, endemic to Hawaii

Aepyornithidae

Family of elephant birds (3 sp ex), found on Madagascar, heaviest known birds, largest egg, olfactory adapted w/ weak vision

Juncitarsus

Group from Eocene, N Hemisphere, unmodified bill, ancestral to grebe-flamingo clade, colonial, salt glands

Penguin

Group originated in Paleocene (62 MYA) in New Zealand/Antarctica, flighted ancestor, dense bones, S Hemisphere

Hawaii

Islands formed 4-1.8 MYA, volcanic, landbirds arose as waifs, decreased after Polynesian settlement ~300 AD, disappeared after European settlement

continental shelf island

Islands in shallow water, reduced subset of avifauna of adjacent continent, few endemics

La Brea

LA tarpits that preserve record of Pleistocene megafauna, predators, and scavengers; 140 bird sp, 60% diurnal raptors/scavengers

Australia

Landmass where Pleistocene fauna included Progura and Genyornis, made extinct by use of fire by humans

Nearctic

Large region; N America; low diversity; much glaciated in Pleistocene; mostly severe climate; homogeneous habitat; moderate number of islands; 750 sp; Parulidae, Vireonidae, Cardinalidae, Passerellidae, Mimidae; many sp migrate (1)

Palearctic

Largest biogeographic region; Europe, N Asia, and N Africa; low diversity, center of evolution for many groups, partly glaciated in the Pleistocene, severe climate, homogeneous habitats, few islands; 70 fam, 1025 sp; Phylloscopidae, Emberizidae, Carduelidae, Prunellidae; many sp migratory (3)

Cathartidae

New World Vultures, appeared in New and Old worlds in Oligocene, most extinct by end of the Pleistocene

problems with species concepts

No definition works for all organisms, levels of genetic divergence characterizing species varies

high aspect ratio

long and skinny wings, good for gliding

Cariamiformes

Order of real "terror birds," 62-2 MYA, 18 sp Phorusracidae and 6 sp Batornithidae, apex carnivores, fast-running, hooked beak and curved talons, 3-10' tall

Tertiary Period

Paleogene (Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene Epochs) and Neogene (Miocene, Pliocene Epochs) Periods

Polynesian

Region consisting of volcanic islands and coral atolls; smallest region; no land mammals, all species waifs; many extinctions

Australasian

Region containing Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea; moderate size; anthropogenic disturbance; large flightless sp extinct by 40000 BP; passerine radiation; convergent avifauna; mostly dry, severe aridification and salinization; 75 fam, 900 sp; 7 fam endemic to Aus, 9 to region; many migratory and nomadic sp; affinities wih oriental and Antarctic regions (6)

Oriental

Region containing India, SE Asia, w Indonesia, Philippines; smallest realm; desertification common; islands connected during low sea level periods; varied habitats; many islands; Wallace's line; 70 fam, 2600 sp; 6 endemic fam (Megalaimidae, Irenidae, Aegithinidae, Chloropseidae, Pnoepygidae, Elachuridae); many montane sp migrate, hosts northern migrants; affinities with Palearctic, Ethiopian (5)

Ethiopian

Region containing subsaharan Africa, S Arabia, Madagascar, Indian Ocean islands; large; limited glaciation; forests shrinking; mostly desert, grassland, savanna; 70 fam (15 endemic), 1550 sp; Bucerotidae, Ploceidae, Laniidae, Alaudidae; hosts many migrants; shares 30% of genera w/ Palearctic (2)

New Zealand

Region in Australasia; separated from Gondwana 80 MYA; 6 endemic fam, 112 endemic sp (18 ex, 28 endangered); ancient lineages include Apterygiformes, Acanthisittidae

Andean/Argentine

Region in sSA; less diverse than tropical regions; usually drab; diverse waterfowl, finches, cormorants

New Guinean

Region in the Australasian realm; 2nd largest island; 7 endemic fam; mountainous and dissected

Neotropical

Region including SA, CA, and S Caribbean; large tropical portion; S portion glaciated, causing expansion and contraction of forests; diverse habitat, elevation, and climate (70% low mesic forest); 4000 sp, 31 endemic fam (Furnariidae, Formicariidae); Trochilidae, Tyrannidae, Thraupidae; few sp migrate (4)

Madagascan

Region separated from Africa and India; major anthropogenic habitat loss; 6 endemic extant fam (Brachypteracidae, Leptosomatidae, Philepittidae, Vangidae, Mesitornithidae, Bernieridae); extinct Aepyornithidae; moderate diversity, 50% sp endemic

Caribbean

Region that may be considered part of the Nearctic or Neotropical; larger islands closer to mainland have more sp; 7 endemic fam; many endangered/extinct sp

Antarctic

Region; several seasbirds, only one migratory landbird; Emperor Penguin breeds in the Antarctic winter; sp have adaptations to harsh climate

homeothermy

Regulating, maintenance of constant body temp via physiological means, primary reason birds have feathers

reproductive isolation

Separation of species or populations so that they cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring, considered test of species status

Parapatric

Speciation along common edge of range of both populations

Hybridization

Speciation that mixes two parental species and forms a stable daughter population

Suboscines

Suborder Tyranni, simpler syringeal musculature, 1000 sp in Neotropic region

Saharo-Arabian

Subregion that is mostly desert, flyover country for migrants; Pteroclidae, Alaududae, Wheatears, and Sylviid warblers

theory of island biogeography

The number of species on an island is determined by a balance between the immigration rate from other inhabited areas and the extinction rate of species established on the island. The model predicts that at some point the rates of immigration and extinction will reach an equilibrium point that determines the island's average species diversity

Vicariance

The physical splitting of a population into smaller, isolated populations by a geographic barrier.

Wallace's Line

The zoogeographical boundary proposed by Alfred Russel Wallace that separates the marsupial fauna of Australia and New Guinea from the non-marsupial fauna of Indonesia

Oscines

True song birds

plumage

a bird's feathers collectively

N Andes

area with the greatest total sp richness

subfossil

bone not old enough to have become completely mineralized as a fossil

subspecies

concept introduced in 20th Century, combined many distinct allopatric forms under BSC, recent splitting has occurred

Eocene

epoch by which all major modern orders are present, 50 MYA

Pliocene

epoch by which many modern genera are present by

Oligocene

epoch by which most modern families are present by

Archaeornithes

extinct Jurassic group of birds including Archaeopteryx

Pterylae

feather tracts, lacking in screamers mousebirds and penguins, most on head and neck, contain <2,000-25,000 feathers total

downy

feathers that can be identified based on taxon-specific barbules (microstructures)

bristle

feathers with sensory corpuscles at the base, almost all on the head, easily cleaned

Thomas Huxley

first to propose in 1868 that birds and therapod dinosaurs are closely related

remiges

flight feathers, asymmetrical in flying birds, provide thrust on downstroke and aerodynamic sirface, attached to ulna and hand bones, 3-16 (usually 10)

melanosomes

fossilized pigments that allow paleontologists to reconstruct pigment patterns in therapod feathers

Tramp species

good colonizers, poor competitors

Pygostylia

group of birds with the end of tail fused into pygostyle

Therapods

group sharing features such as lightly built skull, hollow limb bones, strap-like shoulder blade, 3 clawed fingers, feathers, and semilunate carpal bone with archaeopteryx

serrated comb

leading edge of primaries on nocturnal owls that break up wind and reduce turbulance

avian keratin

less elastic protein found in the beak, claws, and scales of birds

reptilian

origin of archaeopteryx features including teeth, separate clawed fingers, and long bony tail

avian

origin of archaeopteryx features including wings, flight feathers, reversed hallux, and furculum

barbule extension

outer surface of nocturnal owl feathers that dampen wind sounds and inhibit rustling

aftershaft

second shaft coming out of the quill of a feather, usually plumulaceous, well-developed in ratites, lacking in columbiformes

low aspect ratio

short and wide wings, good for maneuverable flying

learned

songs found in oscine passerines, may be different regionally (dialects), imitation common

innate

songs that are known from birth, important to mate recognition, helpful for judging species relationships

Holarctic

term sometimes used to describe both the Nearctic and Palearctic regions; most sp migrate; waterfowl, loons, grebes, shorebirds, raptors, owls

latitudinal diversity gradient

the increase in species diversity from the poles to the equator

Dispersal

the movement of organisms from one place to another

feather

unique skin derivatives found only on birds and some dinosaurs; provide insulation, aerodynamics, and communication/camouflage; secondary roles include locomotion, sound production, hearing, protection, cleanliness, water repellency and transport, tactile sensation, support, toxic defense, flight sound reduction, and digestive aid

The Feather Atlas

way to identify flight feathers of NA birds