>If someone must dissect a bird, any bird, why not take it up to ATL in
>Bothell & do it with an L10-5 ultrasonic probe so the bird can fly away
>afterwards. Then you can capture & "dissect" the bird as many times as
>you want. You can track changes in the same bird's inards throughout the
>seasons. Get heart & breathing rate from the same test (for whatever
>that's worth from a frightened bird.) At least from an engineering point
>of view a living bird has a much higher information content than a dead
>one.
>
>Steven S. Coles

I can only hope there will be continued development of such technology so
it can indeed be used for studies beyond human health-related ones. Could
an ultrasonic probe distinguish between testes and ovaries in a small
passerine bird? Or measure the size of the gonads to determine breeding
status? Or show the width of the subcutaneous fat layer?

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416