40-527: Synallaxis propinqua The white-bellied spinetail ( Mazaria propinqua ) is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae . It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, and Peru. The white-bellied spinetail was originally described in genus Synallaxis . Much later, molecular phylogenetic studies found that it is not closely related to
80-698: A better sense of smell. A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the "bird-chested" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features. Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula , and the loss of grasping hands. † Anchiornis † Archaeopteryx † Xiaotingia † Rahonavis † Jeholornis † Jixiangornis † Balaur † Zhongjianornis † Sapeornis † Confuciusornithiformes † Protopteryx † Pengornis Ornithothoraces † Enantiornithes Warm-blooded Warm-blooded
120-473: A definition similar to "all theropods closer to birds than to Deinonychus ", with Troodon being sometimes added as a second external specifier in case it is closer to birds than to Deinonychus . Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics). Jacques Gauthier , who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed feathered wings used in flapping flight , and
160-442: A group called Paraves . Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as Microraptor , have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal , have been able to glide, or both. Unlike Archaeopteryx and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that
200-439: A high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart , and a strong yet lightweight skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich . There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders . More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species;
240-529: A higher basal metabolic rate and can further increase their metabolic rate during strenuous activity. They usually have well-developed insulation in order to retain body heat: fur and blubber in the case of mammals and feathers in birds. When this insulation is insufficient to maintain body temperature, they may resort to shivering —rapid muscle contractions that quickly use up ATP, thus stimulating cellular metabolism to replace it and consequently produce more heat. Additionally, almost all eutherian mammals (with
280-406: A sister group, the order Crocodilia , contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria . During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica . However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and
320-717: A time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction . They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds , parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement)
360-496: Is generated by metabolism . This relates to the chemical reaction in cells that break down glucose into water and carbon dioxide , thereby producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a high-energy compound used to power other cellular processes. Muscle contraction is one such metabolic process generating heat energy, and additional heat results from friction as blood circulates through the vascular system. All organisms metabolize food and other inputs, but some make better use of
400-431: Is "a strange, low-pitched, and nasal churring, ch-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r " that is also described as "a harsh, grating chatter: djr djr-djr'djr'djr'djr'djr'djr'djr'djr'djr-djr ". Other vocalizations include "a slower and scratchy krreenh-krreenh-hre-kre-kre-kre-kre" and "a low, drawn out, raspy snarl rrhhhhh ; a dry, scratchy gri-grrreh ; and a longer, descending series of growls: ri-gri-gri-gri-grreh . The IUCN has assessed
440-412: Is an informal term referring to animal species whose bodies maintain a temperature higher than that of their environment. In particular, homeothermic species (including birds and mammals ) maintain a stable body temperature by regulating metabolic processes. Other species have various degrees of thermoregulation . As there are more than two categories of temperature control utilized by animals,
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#1732782657039480-540: Is called ornithology . Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs . Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians . Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx ) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic . According to recent estimates, modern birds ( Neornithes ) evolved in
520-617: Is found along rivers in the western Amazon Basin of extreme southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, northeastern and east-central Peru, northern Bolivia, southern French Guiana, and western Brazil. (It is known in French Guiana from a single specimen.) The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society calls the species hypothetical in Colombia. Major rivers in addition to
560-429: Is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. The first classification of birds
600-503: Is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor. Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs , i.e. the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to Tyrannosaurus rex . The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase. After
640-516: Is synonymous to Avifilopluma. † Scansoriopterygidae † Eosinopteryx † Jinfengopteryx † Aurornis † Dromaeosauridae † Troodontidae Avialae Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora , a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs , among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds,
680-535: Is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode . Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils , and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives. Gauthier and de Queiroz identified four different definitions for
720-481: Is vulnerable to widespread habitat loss, as might occur through perturbations of the Amazonian hydrological regime stemming from widespread deforestation, dam construction, or global climate change." Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves ( Latin: [ˈaveːs] ), characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs,
760-722: The Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non- ornithuran dinosaurs. Many social species preserve knowledge across generations ( culture ). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs , and participating in such behaviour as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking , and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous , usually for one breeding season at
800-669: The Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the late Jurassic period ( Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago. The avialan species from this time period include Anchiornis huxleyi , Xiaotingia zhengi , and Aurornis xui . The well-known probable early avialan, Archaeopteryx , dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany . Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds but were later lost during bird evolution. These features include enlarged claws on
840-571: The primaries . Their tail is dull rufous; the feathers are pointed. Their chin and upper throat are white or black with white fringes on the feathers. Their lower throat is black with white on the feather tips. Their breast is gray or pale brownish gray, their belly white, and their flanks pale brown. Their iris is brown, their maxilla black, their mandible gray or pale gray, and their legs and feet olive or olive gray. Juveniles have whiter underparts than adults, with no black on their throat and tawny rather than rufous wings. The white-bellied spinetail
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#1732782657039880-428: The appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics. Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer. The integument evolved into complex, pennaceous feathers . The oldest known paravian (and probably the earliest avialan) fossils come from
920-509: The birds that descended from them. Despite being currently one of the most widely used, the crown-group definition of Aves has been criticised by some researchers. Lee and Spencer (1997) argued that, contrary to what Gauthier defended, this definition would not increase the stability of the clade and the exact content of Aves will always be uncertain because any defined clade (either crown or not) will have few synapomorphies distinguishing it from its closest relatives. Their alternative definition
960-665: The earliest members of Aves, is removed from this group, becoming a non-avian dinosaur instead. These proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of palaeontology and bird evolution , though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent. Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is often used synonymously with the vernacular term "bird" by these researchers. † Coelurus † Ornitholestes † Ornithomimosauria † Alvarezsauridae † Oviraptorosauria Paraves Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used
1000-451: The first avialans were omnivores . The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It
1040-649: The only known exception of swine ) have brown adipose tissue whose mitochondria are capable of non-shivering thermogenesis . This process involves the direct dissipation of the mitochondrial gradient as heat via an uncoupling protein , thereby "uncoupling" the gradient from its usual function of driving ATP production via ATP synthase . In warm environments, these animals employ evaporative cooling to shed excess heat, either through sweating (some mammals) or by panting (many mammals and all birds)—mechanisms generally absent in poikilotherms. It has been hypothesized that warm-bloodedness evolved in mammals and birds as
1080-523: The only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds . Wings, which are modified forelimbs , gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds , including ratites , penguins , and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds , have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds
1120-600: The other members of the genus and it was moved to its own genus Mazaria . It and the chotoy spinetail ( Schoeniophylax phryganophilus ) are sister species . The white-bellied spinetail is monotypic : No subspecies are recognized. The white-bellied spinetail is 14.5 to 16 cm (5.7 to 6.3 in) long and weighs 16 to 22 g (0.56 to 0.78 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults have gray lores on an otherwise grayish brown face. Their crown, back, rump, and uppertail coverts are also grayish brown. Their flight feathers are mostly dusky with pale rufous edges on
1160-402: The outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle , an ossification of fused tail vertebrae. In the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of all modern birds evolved a more open pelvis, allowing them to lay larger eggs compared to body size. Around 95 million years ago, they evolved
1200-443: The output than others. Like all energy conversions, metabolism is rather inefficient, and around 60% of the available energy is converted to heat rather than to ATP. In most organisms, this heat dissipates into the surroundings. However, endothermic homeotherms (generally referred to as "warm-blooded" animals) not only produce more heat but also possess superior means of retaining and regulating it compared to other animals. They exhibit
1240-514: The past three decades, investigations in the field of animal thermophysiology have unveiled numerous species within these two groups that do not meet all these criteria. For instance, many bats and small birds become poikilothermic and bradymetabolic during sleep (or, in nocturnal species, during the day). For such creatures, the term heterothermy was introduced. Further examinations of animals traditionally classified as cold-blooded have revealed that most creatures manifest varying combinations of
White-bellied spinetail - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-536: The previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs , contributed to this ambiguity. The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans , are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs , which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids . Together, these form
1320-498: The rainy season, the species has never been documented on the "mainland". The white-bellied spinetail is insectivorous but its diet has not been examined in detail. It typically forages singly or in pairs, gleaning prey from grasses, small branches, and foliage within about 2 m (7 ft) of the ground. It has also been observed making short sally flights. Nothing is known about the white-bellied spinetail's breeding biology. [REDACTED] The white-bellied spinetail's song
1360-452: The same biological name "Aves", which is a problem. The authors proposed to reserve the term Aves only for the crown group consisting of the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants, which corresponds to meaning number 4 below. They assigned other names to the other groups. Lizards & snakes Turtles Crocodiles Birds Under the fourth definition Archaeopteryx , traditionally considered one of
1400-551: The second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or "hind wings" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering. Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period. Many groups retained primitive characteristics , such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). Increasingly stiff tails (especially
1440-404: The terms warm-blooded and cold-blooded have been deprecated in the scientific field. In general, warm-bloodedness refers to three separate categories of thermoregulation . A significant proportion of creatures commonly referred to as "warm-blooded," like birds and mammals, exhibit all three of these categories (i.e., they are endothermic, homeothermic, and tachymetabolic). However, over
1480-555: The three aforementioned terms, along with their counterparts (ectothermy, poikilothermy, and bradymetabolism), thus creating a broad spectrum of body temperature types. Some fish have warm-blooded characteristics, such as the opah . Swordfish and some sharks have circulatory mechanisms that keep their brains and eyes above ambient temperatures and thus increase their ability to detect and react to prey . Tunas and some sharks have similar mechanisms in their muscles, improving their stamina when swimming at high speed. Body heat
1520-615: The upper Amazon itself are the Napo , Pastaza , Ucayali , Madre de Díos , Jurua , and Tocantins . The white-bellied spinetail inhabits early successional growth on river islands, where it favors grassy areas with scattered bushes and small trees. It is a bird of the lowlands, reaching only 200 m (700 ft) in Colombia and Bolivia and 300 m (1,000 ft) in Ecuador. The white-bellied spinetail appears to be resident on river islands year-round. Despite that some islands flood during
1560-421: The white-bellied spinetail as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and an unknown population size that is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon to locally fairly common. "Human activity has little short-term direct effect on White-bellied Spinetail, other than the local effects of habitat destruction. In the longer term, White-bellied Spinetail potentially
1600-466: Was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae . Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use. Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy . Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda as an infraclass or a subclass, more recently a subclass. Aves and
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