Birds | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 04/10/2019

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird


00:04:02 1 Evolution and classification
00:04:37 1.1 Definition
00:07:13 1.2 Dinosaurs and the origin of birds
00:09:02 1.3 Early evolution
00:10:42 1.4 Early diversity of bird ancestors
00:12:47 1.5 Diversification of modern birds
00:14:42 1.6 Classification of bird orders
00:15:38 2 Distribution
00:17:03 3 Anatomy and physiology
00:17:22 3.1 Skeletal system
00:18:22 3.2 Excretory system
00:20:06 3.3 Respiratory and circulatory systems
00:21:27 3.3.1 Heart type and features
00:22:55 3.3.2 Organisation
00:24:41 3.4 Nervous system
00:26:54 3.5 Defence and intraspecific combat
00:28:10 3.6 Chromosomes
00:29:05 3.7 Feathers, plumage, and scales
00:32:27 3.8 Flight
00:33:33 4 Behaviour
00:33:56 4.1 Diet and feeding
00:36:12 4.2 Water and drinking
00:37:31 4.3 Feather care
00:38:34 4.4 Migration
00:42:29 4.5 Communication
00:44:30 4.6 Flocking and other associations
00:45:42 4.7 Resting and roosting
00:47:59 4.8 Breeding
00:48:06 4.8.1 Social systems
00:50:23 4.8.2 Territories, nesting and incubation
00:53:16 4.8.3 Parental care and fledging
00:56:15 4.8.4 Brood parasites
00:57:19 4.8.5 Sexual selection
00:58:27 4.8.6 Inbreeding depression
00:59:02 4.8.7 Inbreeding avoidance
01:01:02 5 Ecology
01:02:51 6 Relationship with humans
01:04:02 6.1 Economic importance
01:06:14 6.2 In religion and mythology
01:07:51 6.3 In culture and folklore
01:09:31 6.4 In music
01:10:03 6.5 Conservation
01:11:32 7 See also
01:11:51 8 Notes
01:11:59 9 External links



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SUMMARY
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Birds, also known as Aves or avian dinosaurs,  are a group of endothermic vertebrates, characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) ostrich. They rank as the world's most numerically successful class of tetrapods, with approximately ten thousand living species, more than half of these being passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which evolved from 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 of birds. 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 fossil record demonstrates that birds are modern feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier feathered dinosaurs within the theropod group, which are traditionally placed within the saurischian dinosaurs. The closest living relatives of birds are the crocodilians. Primitive bird-like dinosaurs that lie outside class Aves proper, in the broader group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, around 170 million years ago. Many of these early "stem-birds", such as Archaeopteryx, retained primitive characteristics such as teeth and long bony tails. DNA-based evidence finds that birds diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Palaeogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all the non-avian dinosaur lineages. But birds, especially those in the southern continents, survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world while diversifying during periods of global cooling. This makes them the sole surviving dinosaurs according to cladistics.
Some birds, especially corvids and parrots, are among the most intelligent animals; several bird species make and use tools, and many  ...