Rubber Duck Skeleton

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Nakamura Y., Nakane Y., Tsudzuki M. Skeletal development in blue-breasted quail embryos. Anim. Sci. J. 2019; 90:353–365. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] McAlinden A., Johnstone B., Kollar J., Kazmi N., Hering T.M. Expression of two novel alternatively spliced COL2A1 isoforms during chondrocyte differentiation. Matrix Biol. 2008; 27:254–266. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Birkhead, Tim, 2012. Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird. This book is about the senses of birds, not their skeletons. However, it provides a fascinating look at how birds live. There is one section that relates to the skeletons you study in today's lab: hearing, and particularly echolocation, work a little differently in birds compared to bats, as a result of their differing middle ear bones. Easy reading. I highly recommend this book. In short, things that can easily be subject to changes with age can be used for identification as a supplement, but certainly not alone. I personally think I'll retire using the shape of the ischiadic foramen to diagnosis species within a group, though I still intend to use it to differentiate between family groups I never encountered a problem with that thus far, but I suppose time will tell if that's reliable. But there is a much bigger different between a tiny coot ischiadic foramen than the ischiadic foramen of any waterfowl, even if the individuals experience variance. Bezuidenhout, A.J.; Groenewald, H.B.; Soley, J.T. (1999). "An anatomical study of the respiratory air sacs in ostriches" (PDF). Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research. 66 (4): 317–325. PMID 10689704.

Here is a simple diagram of a bird skeleton (from Wikimedia Commons). Many of the bones are clearly homologous to those in mammals, but there are a few important differences. Anatotitan was a biped (it walked on two legs) but it could also walk on four legs, perhaps to graze low-lying plants. Anatotitan was probably a relatively slow-moving dinosaur with few defenses but may have had keen senses (eyesight, hearing, and smell) to help it avoid predators. They were plant eaters and could move on two or four feet, though their rear feet were longer than their arms. There is speculation that their spike was attached to a flap of skin that covered the nostrils and could be blown up for displays and noise-making.

Furcula. While nonflying dinosaurs had a furcula, it did not have the springy construction found in living birds. Fastovsky, David E.; Weishampel, David B. (2005). The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs (2nded.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81172-9.

The words in bold type are things that you might be asked to identify on the lab exam. Rather than focusing only on the names of the bones, it's useful to think about the major differences between bird skeletons and mammal skeletons, as described below. Benzo CA, Gennaro DLD (1983) A hypothesis of function for the avian glycogen body: a novel role for glycogen in the central nervous system. Med Hypotheses 10(1):69–76Discuss why the unique features of bird skeletons might or might not be considered as adaptations to flight.

John M.A., Khan M., Quadir A., Choudhury A.R., Baba M.A., Dar F.A., Rafiq A. Sternal morphometry of common myna (Acridotheres tristis), himalayan bulbul (Pyconotus leucogenys) and house sparrow (Passer domesticus) Appl. Biol. Res. 2017; 19:237–240. [ Google Scholar] Note, that since this thread is all about spoilers, I will not be spoilering content from here on. Proceed with caution. Feathers. Birds are the only living animals with feathers, and feathers are essential for the mechanics of bird flight. However, many nonflying dinosaurs also had feathers. Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus skeleton on display at the Field Museum of Natural History, in Chicago. Life-size Parasaurolophus Skeleton Sculpture for Sale

Bat wing vs. bird wing

Maxwell E.E., Larsson H.C. Comparative ossification sequence and skeletal development of the postcranium of palaeognathous birds (Aves: Palaeognathae) Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 2009; 157:169–196. [ Google Scholar]