Swallow. Coloured X-ray of a swallow (family Hirundidae). The swallow spends much of its time on the wing, and it is well adapted for energy- efficien

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Swallow. Coloured X-ray of a swallow (family Hirundidae). The swallow spends much of its time on the wing, and it is well adapted for energy- efficient flight; its hollow bones and toothless mouth ensure that its skeleton is as light as possible. The swallow's wings (upper left and right) are anatomically analogous to a human's hands, but many of the \finger\" bones have been lost. The large breast bone (upper centre) supports the breast muscle (not seen), which provides the power needed for the swallow to flap its wings. This bird has broken one of the bones (upper left) in its left wing."

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Size: 3500px × 3000px
Photo credit: © D. ROBERTS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -ray, animal, bird, bone, bones, break, broken, coloured, flight, flying, fracture, fractured, hirundidae, hollow, injured, injury, light, nature, passerine, radiograph, radiography, skeletal, skeleton, swallow, wildlife, wing, winged, wings, xray, zoology