Are birds technically reptiles?

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asked Jun 17, 2022 in Birds by usmiffen (600 points)
Are birds technically reptiles?

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answered Jun 18, 2022 by Wendell (41,840 points)
Birds are technically speaking reptiles although they are not really classified as reptiles.

According to the phylogenetic classification system, a reptile is any animal which originated from the original group of reptiles, technically including birds and mammals.

Therefore, birds are considered reptiles under Phylogenetic taxonomy, just as other animals that descended from vertebrates are called vertebrates.

Birds are Chordates.

Birds are in the phylum of Chordata or Chordate.

A chordate is an animal of the phylum Chordata.

All chordates possess five synapomorphies, or primary characteristics, at some point during their larval or adulthood stages that distinguish them from all other taxa.

Birds are in the Phylum Chordata (Animals with a backbone).

Next in classification is the Class.

The Class for birds is Aves.

Birds are part of the phylum Chordata, because they meet all the criteria in order to considered part of this phylum.

Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves, 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 reproduce by internal fertilization, during which the egg is fertilized inside the female.

Like reptiles, birds have cloaca, or a single exit and entrance for sperm, eggs, and waste.

The male brings his sperm to the female cloaca.

The sperm fertilizes the egg.

Some of the most basic birds include.

Mourning Doves.
White-Throated Sparrows.
Black-Capped Chickadees.
Pine Grosbeaks.
House Finches.
Mockingbirds.
Bluejays.
Downy Woodpeckers.
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answered May 17, 2023 by Glueonhands (4,510 points)
Technically birds are reptiles although they are not really classified as being reptiles.

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