Ornithere: Difference between revisions
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{{Construction}}
{{group|generation=162|progenitor=Brighteyes|image=Brighteyes.png|taxon=Ornitheria}}{{RandomExtant|Ornitheria|
==Naming==
"Ornithere" (and the taxon name ''Ornitheria'') means bird-beast and stems from the bird-like appearance of the group. It is common for the names of sauceback taxa to end in ''-therium''.
The name "jewel-eyed sauceback" stems from one of their unique features—unlike most saucebacks which are blind, ornitheres have mirror-based eyes derived from their nostrils—called "eyestrils"—which have a shiny, jewel-like appearance.
==Anatomy==
In basal
===Feathers===
Apart from their eyes, a striking feature of many
In biats, feathers are organized into tracts, or pterylae, rather than covering the whole body. The flight feather tracts are the caudal (tail fan), left and right alar (wings), left and right aural (ears), and left and right pulmonary (upper tail); some of these are absent in more derived species. The body feathers are the dorsal tract (a U shape on the back that meets in front of the sauce plate), ventral tract (a U shape on the underbelly that meets at the gastralium), femoral tract (wing coverts; not to be confused with a
===Legs and Hips===
Like other modern saucebacks, the legs of
The legs and outer toe bear long aerodynamic feathers similar to those of terran birds. They can be moved and folded using tendons running parallel with the wing, and when not in use they are usually folded upwards. Argusraptors and ophreys have the "wing toe" raised off the ground for monodactyl running and preventing the long feathers from dragging on the ground, respectively. In some flighted species, the wings are slotted to allow for thermal gliding.
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OphreyBackBones.png|With bones.
Ophrey feathers.png|Feather arrangement
Krikree_Bones.png|[[Krikrees|Krikree]] skeleton, showing different anatomy on their side of the biat family tree
Krikree_Muscles.png
</gallery>
===Mouth Anatomy and Feeding===
Although nearly all living saucebacks have mandibles (or "tusks"), the mandibles of the
The oral
===Reproduction===
All
==Locomotion==
Like most other saucebacks,
The most universal of these is the flutter jump, where they appear to run in midair while their flight feathers flap furiously, which slows their fall, adjusts their trajectory, and allows them to land directly into a sprint. The motion, and its function, can be somewhat likened to alternating wing beats. Similar to the flutter jump is a form of wing-assisted incline running where the furious left-right flapping of the leg feathers creates a pushing force which allows smaller species to climb steep slopes without tumbling down.
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Flightless species are usually capable of gliding at some stage of their life. As implied by the presence of specifically flightless species, some species can fly as well; the legs of the [[interbiat]] and its descendants are long and feathered like a bird's wings, and they flap them to fly.
Some
The diversity of
<gallery>
Brighteyes.png|Most small
Interbiat.png|Descendants of the interbiat are capable of powered flight.
Argusraptor Complex.png|Argusraptors are monodactyl runners, walking on just a single horse-like hoof.
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==History==
[[File:Brighteyes.png|thumb|[[Brighteyes]] was the first
The first
{{-}}
==Size==
[[File:Quail Raptor.png|thumb|left|At 20 centimeters in length, the [[Quail Raptor]] is the smallest of all
===Size Limits===
Terrestrial, flightless
The flighted biats have not had their maximum size calculated, however their combination of a very large number of lightweight traits (a skeleton that lacks mineralized components, feather-based wings, a wing-based launch which requires no additional pairs of limbs, and a small total number of digits on their limbs), a respiratory system that can very quickly become unidirectional and is well-suited to the rapid development of air sacs, and their flight muscles and respiratory system being in different parts of their body, it is speculated that they can grow much larger than the largest Terran pterosaurs.
{{-}}
==Taxonomy and Diversity==
This is the placement of
{{clade|{{clade|{{clade|Waxfaces|Larvabacks}}|{{clade|2=Loafshells|1={{clade|Shrewbacks|{{clade|Basal Heartheads|'''
The relations between the different major groups of
{{clade|label1= Basal Forms |{{clade|Argusraptors|label2= Biats |{{clade|Ophreys|Quails}}}}}}
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</gallery>
'''Basal
'''Argusraptors''' are larger, cursorial, monodactyl, and often predatory
'''Biats''' or '''saucebirds''' are the flighted clade descended from the [[interbiat]]. Basal biats retain long tails, but some more derived species have shorter tails.
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'''Quails''' are another branch of biats which have reduced teeth, mobile tail spurs behind the lungs, and a much greater number of eyes. Some species have bundled their numerous eyes into a single main pair of compound eyes.
==Graphics==
<gallery>
Interbiat Silhouette.svg|Silhouette of [[interbiat]]
</gallery>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Common Names]]
[[Category:Group Overviews]]
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