Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Advanced Search

Please select a bone and view below.

Please select a bone type and a corresponding view:

  • skull
    • dorsal
    • ventral
    • lateral
  • mandible
    • dorsal
    • lateral
  • furcula
    • lateral
    • caudal
  • coracoid
    • dorsal
    • ventral
  • sternum
    • ventral
    • lateral
  • scapula
    • dorsal
    • ventral
  • humerus
    • cranial
    • caudal
  • ulna
    • dorsal
    • ventral
  • radius
    • dorsal
    • ventral
  • carpometacarpus
    • dorsal
    • ventral
  • pelvis
    • dorsal
    • ventral
    • lateral
  • femur
    • cranial
    • caudal
  • tibiotarsus
    • cranial
    • caudal
  • tarsometatarsus
    • dorsal
    • plantar
Click this button to take you to the Select Families tab.
Click the ? for more Info.
Help
How to compare Bird bones:
  • First choose a Bone and View type on the Change Bone/View page and hit the Select Families button or Select Families tab. The Select Families page appears under the Select Families tab with the images of bones for all available bird families for your choice of Bone and view type.
  • On the Select Families page, select the families you want to compare and then hit the Compare Families button or Compare Families tab. The Compare Families page appears under the Compare Families tab with high resolution images of the bones that you selected.
  • Finally you can change the Bone and View type by going back to the Change Bone/View page which appears when you hit the Select Families tab. To change the selection of families you can go to the Select Families page which appears when you hit the Select Families tab.
Pages:

Change Bone/View Page

A form to select/change the bone-type and view-type.

Select a Bone type and view type from the dropdown before you proceed. The dropdown shows all the available bone types and their corresponding view types. The Select Families button will submit the form and return all the available families for the chosen bone type and view on the Select Families page. You can either click the Select Families button, or click the Select Families tab to submit the form.

If you hit the Select Families button or tab you will be forcibly returned to the Change Bone/View page. If the bone type/view are already selected then they are shown just above the dropdown in place of the instruction Please select a bone and view below.

The Compare Families Tab is disabled if no families are selected. The list of families selected appear at the top of the page in the Families Selected Area. If there are any families selected then you can switch between all pages.

Click the help icon ? beside the Families Selected for more details on the buttons that appear in that area.

Select Families Page

A collection of images for the chosen Bone and View Types from which a smaller collection (or subset) can be chosen to compare in detail.

Selection of images can be done by clicking the checkboxs under the images. The family name and common name (in italics) are written under each image. The selected families appear as a list of buttons in the Families Selected area at the top of the page.

Deselection (or removal of a family from the selection) can be done by either unchecking the checkbox under the image or by click the button with the appropriate family name in the Families selected area.

If there any families selected then the Compare Families tab is activated. The selected families can be compared by clicking either the Compare Families button or the Compare Families Tab.

Clicking an image will return a high resolution version of the image with more information about the image.

The images, by default, are sorted alphabetically based on the family name. To change this to a taxonomic sorting you can change the dropdown for Sort and hit the Apply Search/Sort button. You can provide a search string (letter, word or phrase) in the Search string box and hit the Apply Search/Sort button. Search and sort can be used at the same time. Search string also provides you a dropdown as you type, from which you can select the family or common name that appears to insert in the Search string box.

Compare Families Page

The collection of images for the chosen subset of families, for a chosen Bone type, and chosen View type.

The Compare High Res Images button will open a new browser window or browser tab with all the chosen images with the highest available resolution. You can zoom in or out on the image by clicking the + or - buttons, or using the mouse controls. Each image box can be collapsed to facilitate comparsion between any two images.

Clicking an image will return a high resolution version of the image with more information about the image.

[ TOP ]