Question

Are birds ureotelic?

Answer 1

Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates of the Aves class, characterized by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, hard-shelled egg laying, high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet light skeleton.

Complete answer:
Birds live worldwide and range in size from 5.5 cm (2.2 in) hummingbird bee to 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) ostrich bee. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are transient or "perching" birds. Birds have wings, the development of which varies by species; the only known groups without wings are extinct fowls and elephant birds.

Wings, which evolved from forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to a loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and various endemic island species. In addition, birds' digestive and respiratory systems are uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species in aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have developed for swimming.

The birds have their tails, the bats don't. Does this fundamental difference in flight morphology reveal a difference in flight capability, and if so, are birds or bats better off? I use Munk's stagger theorem, and Prandtl's relationship to the induced drag of a biplane to show that for a given lift, and given wingspan, the induced drag of a wing-tail combination is lower than the induced drag of a wing alone.

The process of excreting nitrogenous waste in the form of ammonia is called ammonia. Phenomena is known as ammonotelism. Birds, amphibians, reptiles, most aquatic animals, including fish, some terrestrial invertebrates, larvae and mammals, including humans, excrete urea acid as waste.

Ureotelic organisms are organisms that excrete nitrogenous waste substances in the form of urea. It requires less water than ammonia for excretion, so it is a major characteristic of terrestrial animals such as humans.

No, birds are considered uricotelic (and not ureotelic) organisms because they excrete nitrogenous waste in the form of uric acid.

Note: The ammonotelic organism excretes nitrogenous waste as a soluble ammonia. The product or waste formed by ammonia is highly toxic. Highly soluble, therefore, it needs a lot of water for its excretion. Species that excrete uric acid waste are referred to as uricotelic organisms. Uricate excreta is usually white paste and insoluble solids or semi-solids. Needs very little water to flush out the uric acid.