Some anatomical characteristics of the skeleton of grey heron, Ardea cinerea

Authors

  • Zlatko Golob
  • Srdan Bavdek
  • Tina Zajc
  • Franc Janžekovič
  • Tina Klenovšek

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14720/abs.59.1.15699

Keywords:

anatomy, skeleton, birds, Ardea cinerea

Abstract

In the skeletons of four grey herons (Ardea cinerea), we studied the morphological characteristics of bones and skeletal groups, particularly certain segments of the skull, spine, pectoral girdle, sternum and pelvic girdle. The skull is characterized by a pronounced craniofacial bending zone (zona flexoria craniofacialis), long frontal bone (os frontale) with a distinct longitudinal depression (depressio frontalis), long postorbital arch (arcus postorbitalis), extensive temporal fossa (fossa temporalis) and additional shallow subtemporal fossa (fossa subtemporalis). The parasphenoid rostrum (rostrum parasphenoidale) is distinctive, pterygoids (ossa pterygoidea) are strong and straight. Cervical vertebrae are characterized by stronger calcification of the sixth vertebra and its rigid link to thefifth. At the notarium region vertebrae are not fused: a joint is clearly seen between the last cervical and first thoracic vertebrae. The first three thoracic vertebrae are not fused, however, they are tightly connected at the ventral section. The fifth dorsal vertebra is associated with the synsacrum. The clavicles are fused into the fork (furcula) and their apophysis forms a synostosis with the top of the sternal keel (apex carinae). Coracoids end at the sternum, each in its own groove (sulcus articularis coracoideus), in a way that the sternal end of the right coracoid is placed slightly over the left. On the handle of the sternum (manubrium s. rostrum sterni) an internal thorn (spina interna) is missing, with a short groove in its place. The basic morphological description is complemented by images of bones or the skeleton, and two X-ray images of a live animal. Presented are also the measurements of individual bones.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Baumel, J.J., King, , A.S., Breazile, J.E., Evans, H.E., Vanden Berge, J.C. (Eds.), 1993. Handbook of avian anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium, 2nd ed. Nuttall Ornithological Club. Cambridge.

Boas, J.E.V., 1929, Biologisch-anatomische Studien Über den Hals der Vogel. Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab Skrifter: Naturvidenskabelig og Mathematisk Afdeling (Copenhagen) series 9, 1 (3): 101‒222.

Boas, J.E.V., 1933. Kreuzbein, Becken, und Plexus lumbosacralis der Vogel. Mem l‘Acad Roy Sci Lettr Danemark 5: 1–74.

Cohen, A., Serjeantson, D., 1996. A manual for the identification of bird bones from arheological sites. Archetype Publications Ltd. London.

Cramp, S., 1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The birds of the Western Paleartic. Oxford University Press. Oxford.

Fürbringer, M., 1888. Untersuchungen zur Morphologie und Systematik der Vögel zugleich ein Beitrag zur Anatomie der Stütz und Bewegungsorgane. II Allgemeiner Amsterdam: Theil. Verlag von Holkema. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.51998

Fürbringer, M., 1902. Zur vergleichenden Anatomie des Brustschulterapparates und der Schul- termuskeln. V. Teil. Vögel. Abdruck aus der Jenaischen Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft 36 (N. F. 28), 289–736. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.15346

Gill, F., Donsker D. (Eds.), 2016. IOC World Bird List (v 6.2). Preneseno iz: http://www.worldbirdnames. org/, pridobljeno 18.4.2016.

Golob, Z., 2011. Funkcionalna anatomija ptičev z osnovami ornitologije. − Fakulteta za naravoslovje in matematiko, Maribor.

Janžekovič, F., Zajc T., Klenovšek T., Bavdek S., Golob Z., 2015. Osteologija ptičev: prispevek k slovenskemu anatomskemu izrazju. Acta Biologica Slovenica 58 (2) 77–92.

Kellner, M., 1986. Vergleichend morphologische Untersuchungen an Eizelknochen des postkranialen Skeletts in Europa vorkommender Ardeidae. Inaugural – Dissertation zur Erlangung der tierme- dizinischen Doktorwürde der Tierärztlichen Fakultät der Ludwig – Maximilians - Universität München. München.

King, A.S., McLelland, J., 1984. Birds, Their Structure and Function. 2nd ed. Baillie`re Tindall. London. Livezey, B.C., Zusi, R.L., 2006. Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy: I. – Methods and characters. Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 37: 1–556.

NAV, 2012. Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria. Fifth Ed. (revised version). Published by the Editorial Committee Hannover (Germany), Columbia, MO (U.S.A.), Ghent (Belgium), Sapporo (Japan). Preneseno iz: www.wava-amav.org/Downloads/nav_2012.pdf , pridobljeno 18.4.2016.

Pascotto, M.C., Donatelli, R.J., 2003. Cranial osteology in Momotidae (Aves: Coraciiformes). J. Morphol. 258: 32–48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.10129

Payne, R.B., Risley, C.J., 1976. Systematics and evolutionary relationships among the herons (Ardeidae). Ann Arbor, Museum of Zoology. University of Michigan.

Rigler, L., 1985. Veterinarski anatomski slovar = Index verborum anatomicorum veterinariorum. Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti. Ljubljana.

Rigler, L., 1990. Anatomija domačih živali. Osteologia in syndesmologia : skripta za študente veteri- narstva, agronomije in živilske tehnologije. Veterinarska fakulteta. Ljubljana.

Zajc, T., 2010. Anatomske in morfometrične lastnosti skeleta sive čaplje, Ardea cinerea (Linaeus, 1758). Diplomska naloga, Fakulteta za naravoslovje in matematiko, Oddelek za biologijo. Maribor.

Published

01.07.2016

Issue

Section

Original Research Paper

How to Cite

Golob, Z., Bavdek, S., Zajc, T., Janžekovič, F., & Klenovšek, T. (2016). Some anatomical characteristics of the skeleton of grey heron, Ardea cinerea. Acta Biologica Slovenica, 59(1), 55-75. https://doi.org/10.14720/abs.59.1.15699