Information about Pygostyle
Pygostyle refers to a number of the final few caudal vertebrae fused into a single ossification, supporting the tail feathers and musculature. In modern birds, the rectrices attach to these.
In cooked chicken or turkey, it is colloquially known as the "parson's nose" or the "pope's nose".
The earliest known species to have evolved a pygostyle were members of the genus of Confuciusornis. It provided an evolutionary advantage, as a completely mobile tail is detrimental to its use for flight control. Modern birds still develop longer caudal vertebrae in their embryonal state, which later fuse to form a pygostyle.
However, there are two main types of pygostyle: one, found in Confuciusornis, Enantiornithes, and other Mesozoic birds, as well as in some oviraptorosaurs like Nomingia, is long and rod-like. None of the known fossils with such phygostyles that retain also feather traces had well-developed rectrices, except maybe for central ornamental "streamers" such as those found in Confuciusornis.
The other pygostyle type is plowshare-shaped. It is found in modern birds, and in almost all flying species is associated with a "fan" of well-developed rectrices used in maneuvring.
As evidenced by the oviraptorosaurian examples, the pygostyle evolved at least twice; as indicated by the differences between Enantiornithes and modern birds, it may have evolved thrice. In other words, the pygostyle of Nomingia and that of a chicken is a homoplasy, whereas that of Enantiornis and a chicken is either a homoplasy too or a synapomorphy.
In cooked chicken or turkey, it is colloquially known as the "parson's nose" or the "pope's nose".
The earliest known species to have evolved a pygostyle were members of the genus of Confuciusornis. It provided an evolutionary advantage, as a completely mobile tail is detrimental to its use for flight control. Modern birds still develop longer caudal vertebrae in their embryonal state, which later fuse to form a pygostyle.
However, there are two main types of pygostyle: one, found in Confuciusornis, Enantiornithes, and other Mesozoic birds, as well as in some oviraptorosaurs like Nomingia, is long and rod-like. None of the known fossils with such phygostyles that retain also feather traces had well-developed rectrices, except maybe for central ornamental "streamers" such as those found in Confuciusornis.
The other pygostyle type is plowshare-shaped. It is found in modern birds, and in almost all flying species is associated with a "fan" of well-developed rectrices used in maneuvring.
As evidenced by the oviraptorosaurian examples, the pygostyle evolved at least twice; as indicated by the differences between Enantiornithes and modern birds, it may have evolved thrice. In other words, the pygostyle of Nomingia and that of a chicken is a homoplasy, whereas that of Enantiornis and a chicken is either a homoplasy too or a synapomorphy.
See also
- Bird skeleton
In sciences dealing with the anatomy of animals, precise anatomical terms of location are necessary for a variety of reasons. Non-scientists often wonder why zoological and human anatomists use complex terminology to describe locations on a body, when common terms like "up",
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The Vertebral Column (singular: vertebra) are the individual irregular bones that make up the spinal column (aka ischis) — a flexuous and flexible column.
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Ossification is the process of bone formation, in which connective tissues, such as cartilage are turned to bone or bone-like tissue. The ossified tissue is invaginated with blood vessels. These blood vessels bring minerals like calcium and deposit it in the ossifying tissue.
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Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. They are the outstanding characteristic that distinguishes the Class Aves from all other living groups. Other Theropoda also had feathers (see Feathered dinosaurs).
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758
Orders
About two dozen - see section below
Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Linnaeus, 1758
Orders
About two dozen - see section below
Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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flight feather refers to any of the long stiff feathers on the wing or tail of a bird; those on the wing are called remiges (singular remex) while those on the tail are called rectrices (singular rectrix).
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chicken (Gallus gallus) is a type of domesticated fowl, believed to be descended from the wild Indian and south-east Asian Red Junglefowl.
The chicken is one of the most common and wide-spread domestic animals.
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The chicken is one of the most common and wide-spread domestic animals.
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Motto
Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
Peace at Home, Peace in the World
Anthem
İstiklâl Marşı
The Anthem of Independence
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Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
Peace at Home, Peace in the World
Anthem
İstiklâl Marşı
The Anthem of Independence
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Pope's nose, Parson's nose and Sultan's nose are colloquial expressions for the pygostyle.
The pygostyle is the fleshy protuberance at the posterior end of a bird, particularly visible after a bird (most commonly a chicken or turkey) has been dressed for
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The pygostyle is the fleshy protuberance at the posterior end of a bird, particularly visible after a bird (most commonly a chicken or turkey) has been dressed for
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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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Confuciusornis
Hou et al., 1995
Species
C. sanctus (type)
C. dui Hou et al., 1999
C. chuonzhous (disputed)
C.
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Hou et al., 1995
Species
C. sanctus (type)
C. dui Hou et al., 1999
C. chuonzhous (disputed)
C.
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Enantiornithes
Walker, 1981
Orders
see text
Synonyms
Enantiornithomorpha
Chiappe, 1999
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Walker, 1981
Orders
see text
Synonyms
Enantiornithomorpha
Chiappe, 1999
Enantiornithes
Enantiornithes is an extinct group of flying Protobirds...... Click the link for more information.
Oviraptorosauria
Barsbold, 1976
Families
Oviraptorosaurs
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Barsbold, 1976
Families
- Avimimidae
- Caudipteridae
- Caenagnathidae
- Oviraptoridae
Oviraptorosaurs
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Nomingia
Binomial name
Nomingia gobiensis
Barsbold et al., 2000
Nomingia was a genus of oviraptorosaurian dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Bugin Tsav Beds.
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Binomial name
Nomingia gobiensis
Barsbold et al., 2000
Nomingia was a genus of oviraptorosaurian dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Bugin Tsav Beds.
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plowshare (or ploughshare) is a component of a plow (plough). It is the cutting or leading edge of a moldboard which closely follows the coulter (one or more ground-breaking spikes) when plowing (ploughing).
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Evolve may refer to several terms:
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- Evolve, as in Evolution.
- Evolve Cars, an after-market manufacturer of sport-parts for Volvo cars.
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In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related (not monophyletic), independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches[1].
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In evolutionary biology, a synapomorphy is a derived character state shared by two or more terminal groups (taxa included in a cladistic analysis as further indivisible units) and inherited from their most recent common ancestor.
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