The Ancestry Of Birds: The Evolution Of Birds

To compare the impact of evolution on different organisms a study was conducted by: carefully examining the species of birds with each other. This was accomplished through using a sample population of 200 birds. Moreover, there were other factors that were taken into account (in order to ensure objectivity and accuracy). The below table is illustrating those factors that were considered to be the most important during this study. ("Evolution Lab," 2012)

Could birds be the closest relative there is to a dinosaur? Well they have said to of survived the comet that hit Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs as they were able to hang in the skies out of danger. Another common feature that birds have over mammals and other animals is that they are egg laying just like reptiles and discoveries show that the eggs have the same micro structure. Palaeontologists compared the skeletal characteristics of dinosaur skeletons and bird skeletons and saw that both had many common traits. Hollow, thin walled bones, S shaped curved neck, 4 toed but only supported by three main toes and many

“We often think of the T-Rex as this huge crocodile-like bipedal reptile but in fact, its closest modern relative are birds and the T-Rex was actually the dinosaur equivalent of a chicken” explains Linda Rushmore, head researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ Paleontology

There are numerous counts of evidence showing the processes of evolution and how species ultimately evolved over millions of years. One of the most compelling hypotheses behind evolution was presented by Charles Darwin with his study of the Galapagos Islands. His study showing the various different birds and their different evolutions they went through to be able to survive the changes of weather and relocation. The birds he studied had to change in order to survive, or as he simply puts it: “Survival of the Fittest”. Evolution is the changing of past organisms to diversify and have the ability to fit better in their environment and survive. Diving into the dinosaur cladogram, studies have shown that ancient dinosaurs, over hundreds of millions of years ago, evolved into our modern day birds, and not lizards as many suppose. It became apparent that there would not be enough food for a 9 ton dinosaur to consume on a daily basis forever. So evolution occurred and dinosaurs evolved to become more efficient so they could survive more effectively in their

The passage reading claims some reasons for the pterosaurs that this kind of dinosaurs was not able to fly; despite of it had long wings. But, the professor finds all the reasons dubious and presents some evidences to refute them all.

The head researchers explained the connection between chickens and Tyrannosaurus Rex. Even though, we believe that T-Rexes are enormous bipedal reptiles that look like crocodiles, they are the closest relatives to birds and they are even equivalent to today’s chickens.

There is much evidence that supports the link between dinosaurs and birds. As stated before, the Archaeopteryx is one of scientists’ most valuable sources of evidence and this bird was analysed

First, Crichton noted that duckbilled dinosaurs were herbivores which are supported by a trace fossil found in the coal beds of the western North America that indicated footprints with plant fossils (Martin 2006). Furthermore, duckbilled dinosaurs lived in a vegetated environment that they had to consume enough food relative to their body size. Duckbilled dinosaurs had lengthened their skull and smoothed snout to obtain and process more food. The Dilophosaurus was described as two curved crests that extended from the eyes to the nose. The crest created a V shape on the head with red and black stripes on the crests (Crichton, 1990). Based on fossil evidence, the Dilophosaurus had two crests on the head, but there was no indication of the pigment of the crest. Next, the book stated that the T. rex does not bite the prey, instead, it twisted and tore the

Archaeologist and researchers have discovered a dinosaur fossil tail that has feathers on it preserved in amber. In her article Dinosaur tail preserved in amber — feathers and all, Meghan Rosen (2017) states, “The golden chunk of amber is 99 million years old. Inside sits something extraordinary. It’s a tiny dinosaur tail — with pristinely preserved feathers.” Since they found one dinosaur fossil with feathers on it there is bound to be more. Because we don’t know what dinosaurs actually looked like, this could tell us that they had feather on them. There has been feathers from this time period before but just didn’t contain dinosaurs fossils, but this one did contain feathers from a dinosaur (Meghan Rosen, 2017). The

The discovery that birds evolved from small carnivorous dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic was made possible by recently discovered fossils from China, South America, and other countries, as well as by looking at old museum specimens from new perspectives and with new methods. The hunt for the ancestors of living birds began with a specimen of Archaeopteryx, the first known bird, discovered in the early 1860s. Like birds, it had feathers along its arms and tail, but unlike living birds, it also had teeth and a long bony tail. Furthermore, many of the bones in Archaeopteryx's hands, shoulder girdles, pelvis, and feet were distinct, not fused and reduced as they are in living birds. Based on these characteristics, Archaeopteryx was recognized as

Dinosaurs capture the attention of children and adults alike, and many people think that they are long gone. You might be surprised to find that they are not extinct, but rather perching in your backyard. The theory that theropods evolved into birds was proposed nearly a century and a half ago and is supported by more and more modern evidence. You will find that the distinction between birds and dinosaurs will become difficult, as they have so many parallels. The similarities between birds and dinosaurs strongly suggest that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs.

Our modern birds, the Neornithes, has been divided into two “super-orders,” the Palaeognathae (ratites and tinamous) and the Neognathae (other bird orders). Palaeognathae itself is divided into two orders, the Strathioniformes and Tinamiformes. There are five extant species and two extinct species in the Strathioniformes, or the ratites. In total, there are at least 30 species within the ratites family. 16 of these species are now extinct. The rest of the extant species make up only 0.1% of the total bird species in the world.

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade Dinosauria that first appeared during the Triassic period approximately 231.4 million years ago. They were teh dominant terrestrial vertebrates for 135 million years. Many dinosaurs had crests and frills such as the marginocephalians, theropods, and lambeosaurines. The crests found on these different species were too fragile to be used as physical defense. Therefore, there must have been some other use for the crests. There have been three different hypotheses for the use of the crests.

The theories of flight describe flight evolving from the ground up. The ancestors were running dinosaurs, already feathered, probably to conserve body heat. Over time the feathers could have been adapted for flight as bodies became smaller. The running leaps of dinosaurs also evolved into the powered, flapping flight of birds. The arboreal origin of flight is represented by a fall out of a tree and the accumulation of air speed, regardless of intent. I believe that the most plausible origin of flight hypothesis would be for the winged dinosaurs to have fallen out of the trees and glided.

“In today’s existing reptiles, the one more similar to dinosaurs is actually the alligator, belonging to the Archosaur group,” said Prof. Cheng-Ming Chuong in a BBC interview on the subject. Chuong led the Molecular Biology and Evolution study with a team of scientists at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Both dinosaurs and birds overlap in this group of reptiles known as the Archosaur group. Chuong was curious as to whether or not feather-expressing genes that he found in birds could give feathers to reptiles, which sparked the study.