POUL 1010E EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Definition of a bird - answers - anything alive today with feathers, are warm blooded with
hollow bones
4 toes
Paper thin skin
Aerodynamic with compact skeleton (short bony tail and small head)
3 fingers
Keels for flighted and none for flightless
Toothless
How fossils are dated - answers - based on stratigraphy (studying how deeply a fossil is
buried in the rock strata) and radioisotope dating
Reasons for the lack of bird fossils - answers - many eaten
Small bones didn't survive
Only ones we have are from volcanic stone or sandstone where bird gently covered by
silt or ash until fossilized
Most found are aquatic birds (loons, gulls, petrels, cranes, etc)
Archaeopteryx - answers - first fossil animal with feathers
Discovered in barvaria in 1861
Had reptilian teeth
Tail heavy
Couldn't fly
Most basal bird in avian lineage
Ornithurines give rise to modern birds arising in the last 5 million years - answers - had
superior flight capability than basal avian species because of several anatomical
changes. Elongated coracoid bones and strengthened rib cage to provide skeletal
strength for physical stress of flight and large keeled sternum to support flight muscles
Anatomical differences between prehistoric birds and the birds of today - answers - no
present birds have teeth, birds of today are better adapted for flight, past birds had
claws on wings
Controversies and unanswered questions related to birds evolving from theropod
Dinosaurs - answers - theropod digit morphology data and current embryo
developmental data; theropods had well-formed i-ii-iii with vestigial 4th and 5th digits but
as theropod lineage evolves to archaeopteryx, only i-ii-iii remained
The evolutionary advantages (functions) for the development of feathers - answers -
insulation, camouflage, social signaling, anti-predator defense mechanism (central tail
feathers)
Definition of a bird - answers - anything alive today with feathers, are warm blooded with
hollow bones
4 toes
Paper thin skin
Aerodynamic with compact skeleton (short bony tail and small head)
3 fingers
Keels for flighted and none for flightless
Toothless
How fossils are dated - answers - based on stratigraphy (studying how deeply a fossil is
buried in the rock strata) and radioisotope dating
Reasons for the lack of bird fossils - answers - many eaten
Small bones didn't survive
Only ones we have are from volcanic stone or sandstone where bird gently covered by
silt or ash until fossilized
Most found are aquatic birds (loons, gulls, petrels, cranes, etc)
Archaeopteryx - answers - first fossil animal with feathers
Discovered in barvaria in 1861
Had reptilian teeth
Tail heavy
Couldn't fly
Most basal bird in avian lineage
Ornithurines give rise to modern birds arising in the last 5 million years - answers - had
superior flight capability than basal avian species because of several anatomical
changes. Elongated coracoid bones and strengthened rib cage to provide skeletal
strength for physical stress of flight and large keeled sternum to support flight muscles
Anatomical differences between prehistoric birds and the birds of today - answers - no
present birds have teeth, birds of today are better adapted for flight, past birds had
claws on wings
Controversies and unanswered questions related to birds evolving from theropod
Dinosaurs - answers - theropod digit morphology data and current embryo
developmental data; theropods had well-formed i-ii-iii with vestigial 4th and 5th digits but
as theropod lineage evolves to archaeopteryx, only i-ii-iii remained
The evolutionary advantages (functions) for the development of feathers - answers -
insulation, camouflage, social signaling, anti-predator defense mechanism (central tail
feathers)
