Assignment 2: Paper Review
This assignment offers a critical analysis of " Microanatomy of Passerine Hard-Cornified Tissues: Beak and Claw Structure of the Black-capped Chickadee ( Poecile atricapillus ) " b y Caroline Van Hemert, 1,2* Colleen M. Handel, 1 John E. Blake, 3 Rhonda M. Swor, 3 and Todd M. O’Hara 2 , published in 2012 by the Journal of Morphology. Disclaimer: Figures 2, 3, & 4 were directly obtained from the study conducted by Van Hemert et al., (2012) to assist in an accurate description and critique of the study, belonging fully to the authors listed above. INTRODUCTION This study by Van Hemert et al. (2012) reviews the microanatomy of the healthy beak of the Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus), a passerine bird species. While the paper focuses predominantly on the histology of the chickadee beak, claw histology was also investigated to a degree. The major reason these individuals conducted this research was due t