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Birds might the least expected animal to have survived a mass extinction. How could a small, little bird defend itself from the elements better than a mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex or the defensive Stegosaurus? But it might have been just that, it's small size, that enabled birds to be some of the longest continuing species alive. Paleontologists from Oxford University in London, England and University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, England have produced a new study leading them to believe that a birds small size helped it adapt and survive during the Cretaceous mass extinction. They believe that in the hard times following a 'comet winter' birds small size enabled evolution to occur more quickly than other dinosaurs. They were more nimble to escape the few remaining predators and were more mobile to enable them to leave harmful areas.
This is very relevant to what we have been learning about evolution an adaptations, so it is cool to see an example of what we have been learning on a professional science level.NOS Themes
Science is Collaborative - Paleontologists and Scientists from three separate universities have participated in different steps of these studies.
Science is Based of Evidence - The researchers working on these studies were studying fossil records, a very solid evidence.Science is Subject to Debate - Many people have many different theories as to why birds survived when other dinosaurs didn't. This is just one, reputable report and hypothesis.
~Ben Johnson
I read that birds had evolved from early dinosaurs in the Mesozoic Era called theropods. They are one of the oldest species on the planet. They didn't evolve feathers until about 150 million years ago. I think that this article tells a lot about birds and their ability to survive. It makes me wonder if bird will possibly out live humans. I think that if there was another disaster causing mass extinction, birds would likely survive again.
ReplyDeleteYou present a very interesting and pragmatic reason to why birds survived the mass extinction when other species couldn't. I think another factor that contributed to the quick evolution is life span. Since birds have a shorter life span than the big dinosaurs, they whip through generations much quicker, and evolution is sped up as a result. It makes sense that these factors led to the survival of birds when a lot of other species were wiped out.
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting to think about how birds' size enabled them to adapt faster to the new conditions after a large disaster. The idea of a smaller size allowing faster change and more change makes a lot of sense, but isn't obvious at first. I think that birds are one of the most fascinating species because they're so different from everything else. Maybe the reason for this is because they're one of the closest relatives to dinosaurs.
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting how how the different sizes of the bird's allowed them to adapt faster when they were in need of it to adapt to the new environment. This is a very interesting article because it explains why the birds where able to survive the mass extinction and the dinosaurs could not.It is interesting how since the birds live for a shorter amount of time it was easier for them to evolve more quickly after the comet.
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