12.11. Mimus polyglottos: Mockingbird http://www.ck12.org
12.11 Mimus polyglottos: Mockingbird
Common Name
- Northern Mockingbird
- Jamaican Mockingbird
Description
Northern mockingbirds are gray, white, and black. They can be 8.3 to 10.2 inches long. Their wingspan can be 12.2
to 13.8 inches long. They weigh anywhere from 45 to 58 grams.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Order: Passeriformes
- Family: Mimidae
- Genus:Mimus
- Species:Mimus polyglottos
Habitat
The range that the northern mockingbird lives in is from Canada south to Mexico. The areas where they live include
backyards, forests, parks and edges of cliffs. They can live in the savanna, on the coast, in the desert, and in forests.
Biology
Cell Biology
Mimus polyglottoshas eukaryotic cells, which have a nucleus. Organelles are cell parts within a cell. Some
examples of cell organelles are the cell nucleus, which contains DNA with genes, mitochondria, which provide
energy, ribosomes, which produce proteins, and lysosomes, which carry waste away.
The northern mockingbird has red blood cells. Red blood cells’ main function is to carry oxygen to other cells in the
body. It also removes carbon dioxide from the body.
A cell can divide in two ways. In mitosis, it duplicates all of the cell’s contents including it’s chromosomes, and it
splits to form two new, identical cells. Through meiosis, it reduces chromosome number by half to form sperm and
egg cells.