鸟类胸骨的形态结构多样性及其与飞行能力的关系

The Diversity of Morphology of the Avian Sternum and its Relationship with Flight Ability

不同生态类型的鸟类,其胸骨具有多样性的特征,同时还与鸟类的飞行能力强弱有直接的关系。根据胸骨形态学特征差异及数据的统计分析得出:鸟类胸骨的前侧突、后侧突的排列方式以及后缘凹口的形态是判断其生态习性的有效形态标志。此外,当胸骨深度加大,且胸骨宽度不断加长的鸟类其飞行能力也加强;反之,胸骨的长度加长,深度、宽度渐小的鸟类,其飞行能力较弱或已经丧失飞行能力。

Birds within different ecological niches have widely variations in the sternal morphology,which also directly related to the flight ability.According to the morphological differentiations in the sternum and statistical analysis of related measurement data,we found that the arrangement of the cranial lateral process and the caudal lateral processes,as well as the notch in the posterior margin of the sternum are effective indices to identify ecological adaptations of birds.In addition,the flight ability is enhanced with the increase of the sternal depth and width.In contrast,the flight ability are weakened or lost with the increase of sterna length but decrease in its depth and width.