Origin Of Birds And Their Flight
The origin of birds and their evolutionary history is one of the greatest challenges archaeologists and biologists have faced. Do you want to know more about it?
The origin of the birds
Nowadays most experts agree that the origins of birds can be found in the dinosaurs. Concretely speaking, with a group known as Coelurosauria. There you will find very close relatives of the birds, such as the famous Velociraptor.
The first lost link in the chain that shows us the origins of birds is the Archeopteryx, whose hallmarks are a mix of modern birds and feathered dinosaurs.
On the one hand this cheep had long feathers and could fly, but on the other hand it also had sharp teeth.
A study of the origins of birds began at the same time as Darwin’s publications. A year after
The Origin of Species was published, the first fossilized feather was found.
From this point on , various theories emerged and new connections emerged that attempted to explain the origins of birds.
Origins of birds: how do they resemble dinosaurs?
One of the characteristics that birds share with dinosaurs is feathers. While some dinosaurs had very simple, fibrous feathers, there were others whose feathers were almost as complex as our birds today.
However, the similarity of the skeleton is much stronger . Most of the skeletons are similar in dinosaurs and birds, especially when it comes to the springbone and sternum.
It is surprising that the carnivorous dinosaurs had lung sacs similar to that of birds. It is even believed that many dinosaurs slept like birds and tucked their heads under their plumage to keep them warm.
The behavior and biology of dinosaurs also give us tips about the origins of birds. Both dinosaurs and birds produce calcium-rich tissues that they use to make eggshells.
Many fossilized dinosaurs have been excavated while breeding. Since the young had no teeth, it is also assumed that the parent animals predigested the food for the little ones and then choked it up. Exactly the same thing happens in the goiter of birds.
How did the birds fly?
If the origins of the birds are to be found in the dinosaurs, how did their flight ability come about? You have to keep in mind that the pterosaurs were not dinosaurs. Therefore there are two hypotheses.
The first is that the racing dinosaurs began to use their wings to balance themselves. The other claims that those dinosaurs that lived on trees used their wings to aid their leaps from branch to branch.
So that means that the wings weren’t designed to fly from the start. At first it was front paws that they used to balance. Then they cushioned a fall.
Over time there was a first, short glide flight. The ability to fly developed only slowly and through an evolutionary process.
When the dinosaurs became extinct, some survived the catastrophe for their species. Their successors then made possible the origin of the birds. This is a species that has managed to spread to all ecosystems in the world. Isn’t that wonderful?
