TEST of the button cladisticsand how it interacts with text.

Allometry

the study of the change of proportions of various parts of an organism as a consequence of growth

Alula

a feather which extends from the "thumb" along the leading edge of a bird's wing, the evolution of which was crucial to the attainment of low-speed aerial manoeuvrability; a.k.a. the "bastard wing"

Avifauna

birds (why they didn't just say "birds" I couldn't tell you)

Biogeography

the study of the geographical distribution of living things

Biota

the animals & plants (and other living things) of a region or of a specific time period (see avifauna)

Bipedal

Walking on two feet

Caecum ( also cæcum or cecum)

a cul-de-sac inside an organ (plural: caecae / cæcae / cecae)

Carcase

a British variant spelling of carcass: a dead body

Cladistics

a form of taxonomy, a systematic approach to understanding evolutionary relationships, based on shared physical characteristics. A clade is a grouping of all organisms which arose from a common basal (original) species

Convergence

In Evolution, the gradual approach of different organisms to a common general appearance; it is in response to the same environmental forces, rather than because of a close cladistic relationship (e.g., dolphins and sharks share a very similar hydrodynamic shape, though dolphins are no more closely related to sharks than we are)

Coracoid

a lower bone of the shoulder girdle

Distal

the end farthest from the spine, the opposite of proximal (e.g., the hand is at the distal end of the arm)

Endemic

native or aboriginal

Extant

still in existence; the opposite of extinct

Geological Time

Fossils are described as dating from particular time(MYA = M illion Y ears A go):

Note: dates in this chart were taken from the US Geological Survey ; see their Geologic Time Chart for pre-Mesozoic data

Gondwana

...or Gondwana land, was the great southern continent which began to break apart in the Mesozoic Era, drifting over millions of years to form South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica; Gondwana & Laurasia (its northern counterpart) were themselves the result of a split of the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea

Graviportal

usually refers to the limb structure of a heavy animal: the legs are designed primarily to bear weight, rather than affording the luxury of being able to move fast (first things first, after all--if the legs cannot bear the weight, there won't be much walking, to say nothing of running)

Hallux

the "big" or hind toe of many birds, usually missing in Vorompatra

Maniraptoran

"raptor-handed" theropod dinosaurs, with forelimbs three-quarters as long as their hind limbs or longer: think of them as "pre-bird birds"

Megafauna

"big animals"--usually meaning anything weighing 100 lbs or more

Neoteny

the retention of juvenile characteristics in an adult organism: ratites, humans, and dogs are often thought of as good examples of this mechanism

Ontogeny

the development of an organism, often specifically used to mean "embryonic development"

Ornithothoracine

"bird-chested" post- Archaeopteryx birds

Paleognathus

Literally, "old-jawed"; ratites are members of the superorder Paleognathae, because the bones of the palate & upper jaw (" maxilla ") are more firmly fused than is usual for most other (i.e., Neognathus or "new-jawed") birds

Prosimians

Lemurs & closely-related lower Primates, to distinguish them from monkeys and apes. Madagascar had no higher Primates until the Malagasy paddled ashore, so the Prosimians flourished there even as they were gradually eclipsed elsewhere: monkeys have marginalized Prosimians in Africa & Asia

Phylogeny

the development or evolution of a kind of organism (e.g., a species)

Polyphyletic

said of a taxonomic grouping: arising from more than one common origin. It implies that the grouping is not a natural clade, that it was created for convenience or in the mistaken impression that it ismonophyletic, arising from one origin

Pubis

the forward-projecting bone of the pelvis

Pygostyle

the fused "tail-bone" which supports the bird's tail structure and is important for flight; also called the "Parson's nose"

Ratite

a bird with an unkeeled breastbone, or sternum ; differentiates certain non-flying birds from carinates, birds with keeled breastbones (from Latin carina: "keel"). Other terms: Brevipennate is an old term for ratites, from Latin ("having short wings") = Greek-derived brachypterous

Saurischian

"lizard-hipped" dinosaurs, exemplified by Tyrannosaurus (a theropod: "beast-footed") and Apatosaurus (a sauropod: "lizard-footed")

Stochastic

random or probabilistic; relating to normal fluctuations in a population or sequence

Tarso-metatarsus

a straight bone formed by the fusion of the distaltarsal (ankle) bones with the second, third, and fourth metatarsals

Taxonomy

the science of classification...

Tibio-tarsus

a shin-bone formed by the fusion of the tibia with the proximal row of tarsal bones

Volant

Capable of flying; cursorial ("running") is often used to differentiate non-flying birds, whether or not they may actually run

Vomer

one of the palatal (maxillary or upper jaw) bones

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