What is altricial development?

Definition. An immature state of development following birth or hatching that necessitates care by others.

What is the difference between precocial and altricial?

A precocial bird is “capable of moving around on its own soon after hatching.” The word comes from the same Latin root as “precocious.” Altricial means “incapable of moving around on its own soon after hatchling.” It comes from a Latin root meaning “to nourish” a reference to the need for extensive parental care …

What is the meaning of altricial?

Definition of altricial : being hatched or born or having young that are hatched or born in a very immature and helpless condition so as to require care for some time altricial birds — compare precocial.

Are all birds altricial?

All bird chicks are altricial or precocial or something in between. Altricial birds (also known as nidicolous birds) remain in the nest and depend on their parents for food, heat, and protection. Altricial chicks are born with closed eyes, naked, patches of down feathers, and unable to move away from the nest.

Are all songbirds altricial?

Altricial development, the other major developmental type in birds, is characteristic of all songbirds, woodpeckers, swifts, kingfishers, pigeons and hummingbirds. The young hatch as helpless, naked birds.

What is the difference between oviparity and Ovoviviparity?

The key difference between oviparity, ovoviviparity and viviparity is that oviparity is the trait of laying eggs, while ovoviviparity is the development of embryos inside eggs that are retained within the mother’s body until they are ready to hatch, and viviparity is giving birth to young ones directly.

What are altricial animals?

The altricial-precocial spectrum describes the degree of behavioural and morphological maturation of offspring at the moment of birth or hatching [26]. Altricial young, in contrast, are initially incapable of moving around on their own and require extensive parental care, like brooding or food provisioning.

Are Lions precocial?

On the other hand, rodents, bears, wolves, lions, weasels, rabbits and many more species (hares are precocial) all give birth to dependent, or altricial, young. They are totally helpless, impossibly cute and can do nothing but suckle for their sustenance for the first week or more of life.