Ptaki (Aves) są gromadą kręgowców (Vertebrata) liczącą ponad 11 000 znanych gatunków (IUCN, 2021). Charakterystyczną cechą ptaków, odróżniającą je od pozostałych gromad kręgowców, jest zdolność do lotu. Jednakże wśród ptaków około 1% (~100) gatunków nie posiada tej umiejętności. Wiadomym jest, że zdolność do lotu pochodzi od przodków ptaków – przypominających ptaki dinozaurów, których skamieniałości wskazują, że miały one wiele cech wspólnych z ptakami takich jak występowanie skrzydeł i piór, układ oddechowy z workami powietrznymi oraz stałocieplność (Xu i in., 2014; Sullivan i in., 2019).

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