TOPIC TO BE PRESENTED-:

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AVES

NAME- JUSTIN KUMAR SAHU
REGD NO- 210704170003
BRANCH- B.Sc. Zoology
2021-2024
 CONTENTS
• General characters of Aves
 GENERAL CHARACTERS
• Birds are warm-blooded animals.
• Their forelimbs are modified into wings.
• They have well-developed flight muscles that help during the flight.
• Their hind limbs are adapted for walking, hopping, perching, grasping,
wading and swimming.
• There are epidermal scales on their legs.
• The endoskeleton is bony with long hollow bones filled with air cavities.
known as pneumatic bones.
• Their spindle-shaped body minimizes resistance of the wind.
• The feathers help in preventing heat loss and reduce air friction by
providing passage to the air.
• There is no skin gland except the oil gland.
• The lower and upper and jaws are modified into a beak.
• The alimentary canal has a crop and a gizzard. The crops help in softening
food, and the gizzard helps in crushing the food.
• Pigeons and other seed-eating birds lack a gall bladder.
• They have spongy and elastic lungs for respiration.
• The special vocal organ called syrinx is present at the base of trachea.
• Their heart is four-chambered.
• 12 pairs of cranial nerves are present.
• They have a single ovary and oviduct on the left side
• All the birds are oviparous and exhibit sexual dimorphism.
 CLASSIFICATION OF AVES
Archaeornithes
• This class of birds are extinct. They had a toothed
beak with a long lizard-like tail.
• E.g., Archaeopteryx
Neornithes
• These include extant as well as extinct birds. They
have no teeth and a short tail.
• E.g., Penguin, Grey Heron, Kingfisher, Duck, etc.