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 specimens of birds than of reptiles (a function mainly of their popularity with people), these specimens seem to be weighted towards birds.


great blue heron
Ardea herodias
great blue heron
Ardea herodias
Canada goose
Branta canadensis
 
great horned owl
Bubo virginianus
great horned owl
Bubo virginianus
great horned owl
Bubo virginianus
 
great horned owl
Bubo virginianus
great horned owl
Bubo virginianus
caimans
Caiman
 
Lapland longspur
Calcarius lapponicus
imperial woodpecker
Campephilus imperialis
ivory-billed woodpecker
Campephilus principalis
 
ivory-billed woodpecker
Campephilus principalis
Labrador duck
Camptorhynchus labradorius
Chuck-will's-widow
Caprimulgus carolinensis
 
Home  ¦  About Us  ¦  Special Topics  ¦  Teaching  ¦  About Animal Names  ¦  Help

Structured Inquiry Search — preview