Shedding &
Molting
Jacobson Organs – Smell & Flehming
6th Sense Pit Vipers
Circulatory System
Reptile: 3 chambered heart - 2 atria & one ventricle with partial septum oxygenated blood has limited mixing with deoxygenated
Crocodilians have 4 chambers
Birds: 4 chambered heart
Excretory System
1. Most ammonia in the body forms when protein is broken down by
bacteria in the intestines. The liver normally converts ammonia into
urea, which is then eliminated in urine.
2. Birds & reptiles both excrete uric acid crystals (white pasty stuff)
not urea.
3. What is the advantage of secreting uric acid Vs. urea?
Ammonia
Evolution of the
Brain
Hearing
Reptiles – have only an inner ear bone that picks up
low frequencies from ground vibrations
Birds – owls hunting / most birds hear best at
frequencies they or their predators produce
Behavior
Is it bad to touch young birds because of your scent?
What makes dark meat dark and white meat white?
-Altricial Vs Precocial
-Dusting and Anting
-Mobbing
Reproductive Systems
Most reproduce sexually though some can produce
asexually - Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual
reproduction in which females produce eggs that
develop without fertilization.
All reptiles reproduction is either:
Viviparous - live birth
Oviparous - external egg laying - leathery covering
Ovoviviporous - develop eggs that remain internal
until they hatch or are about to hatch
Rattlesnake Hemipene
Avian
Reproduction
1. Only 3% of all avian species possess a
phallus
2. The length and degree of elaboration of
the penis in waterfowl is positively
correlated with the frequency of forced
extra-pair copulation
Females Co-Evolution
1. Dead end sacs
2. Clockwise vaginal coils as opposed to
the some males with counter-clockwise
coils
Better Shot Argentine Lake
Duck
Eggs
1. Shell - protective covering made of calcium carbonate. The shell
is porous. (There are about 7,000 pores in a chicken eggshell.)
This allows the transfer of gases through the shell.
2. Two membranes - outer and inner shell membranes protect the
contents of the shell and prevent moisture from leaving the egg.
3. Because the body temperature of a hen is approximately 106° F,
eggs are very warm at the time they are laid. As cooling takes
place, the contents of the egg contract more than does the shell
of the egg.
As a result, an air cell forms at the large end of the egg.
4. Albumen provides cushion and a liquid medium in which the
embryo develops, and it also contains a large amount of the
protein necessary for proper development.
5. The chalazae hold the yolk in the center of the egg.
6. The yolk is the source of food for the embryo and contains all the
fat in the egg.
7. The small white spot on the yolk is call the germinal disc. The
germinal disc is where the female's genetic material is found.