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Alula
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{{Short description|Small projections on the wings of birds}} {{About|the anatomy of a bird's wing}} [[File:Alula.png|thumb|280px|alt=Drawing of the various parts of a bird's wing|Location of the alula on a bird's wing]] The '''alula''' {{IPAc-en|'|Γ¦|l|j|U|l|@}}, or '''bastard wing''', (plural ''alulae'') is a small projection on the [[anterior]] edge of the [[wing]] of modern [[bird]]s and a few [[non-avian dinosaur]]s. The word is [[Latin]] and means "winglet"; it is the [[diminutive]] of ''ala'', meaning "wing". The alula is the freely moving first digit, a bird's "thumb", and typically bears three to five small [[flight feather]]s, with the exact number depending on the [[species]]. There also are minor [[covert feather]]s overlying the flight feathers. Like the larger [[flight feather]]s found on the wing's trailing edge, these alula feathers are asymmetrical, with the shaft running closer to anterior edge.
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