Animal Diversity Web U of M Museum of Zoology ADW Home ADW Home ADW Home University of Michigan Help About Aninal Names Teaching Special Topics About Us




Structured Inquiry Search — preview

Home Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Subphylum Vertebrata Class Reptilia

Class Reptilia
(reptiles)





Why are there birds on the reptiles page?

Overwhelming physical, fossil, and molecular evidence has now convincingly established that birds, as a group, fall within the group Reptilia. Birds are the closest living relatives of crocodiles, which are traditionally included in Reptilia, so birds fall within that group as well. Please see our information on Reptilia for more information relevant to this debate, and our details on how animals are classified.

Because we have more pictures of birds than of reptiles (a function mainly of their popularity with people), these pictures seem to be weighted towards birds.


spotted sandpiper
Actitis macularius
spotted sandpiper
Actitis macularius
African jacana
Actophilornis africanus
 
African jacana
Actophilornis africanus
African jacana
Actophilornis africanus
Acutotyphlops subocularis
 
Clark's grebe
Aechmophorus clarkii
Clark's grebe
Aechmophorus clarkii
Clark's grebe
Aechmophorus clarkii
 
western grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
western grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
western grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
 
western grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
western grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
western grebe
Aechmophorus occidentalis
 
Home  ¦  About Us  ¦  Special Topics  ¦  Teaching  ¦  About Animal Names  ¦  Help

Structured Inquiry Search — preview