BBC Nature: "Dinosaurs 'shrank' regularly to become birds"
"
Birds evolved through a unique phase of sustained miniaturisation in dinosaurs," Mr Lee said.
"Being smaller and lighter in the land of giants, with rapidly evolving anatomical adaptations, provided these bird ancestors with new ecological opportunities, such as the ability to climb trees, glide and fly.
"Ultimately, this evolutionary flexibility helped birds survive the deadly meteorite impact which killed off all their dinosaurian cousins."
23 comments:
So velociraptors really did taste like chicken, eh?
That's a picture of a Nancy Pelosy distant cousin.
"Dinosaurs 'shrank' regularly to become birds"
Women, Minorities hardest hit.
I believe in evolution, even though I can barely understand the most salient aspects of it, and I certainly couldn't explain it to a disbeliever, except in the most rudimentary of terms, so that's a big part of why I don't get all bent out of shape whenever I hear someone yammering about how they understand God, what He's up to, and what He wants.
Ultimately, this evolutionary flexibility helped birds survive the deadly meteorite impact which killed off all their dinosaurian cousins."
Oh, and pray tell, what would that "flexibility" be that allowed these proto-birds to survive the death of most terrestrial plant life, a decades long "nuclear winter", the poisoning of the water supply by acid rain, etc? I mean, how long does it take to die of hunger? A week or two or three?
This is the problem I have with the "extinction event" line of thought. The events are so cataclysmic (especially for the Permian-Triassic die-off) that it's hard to see how anything could survive. There's no "evolutionary adaptation" that protects a critter against sulfuric acid rain.
Well said, Young Hegelian.
I don't think even computers miniaturized that fast.
Yet another evolutionary Just So story.
I don't know, YH. How long would the dust cloud have lasted? How dark was it inside it? The birds could have lived off insects that lived of dead vegetation and dead animals.
@deborah,
Well, maybe. Who knows? But that's the problem, as Pogo says, another "just so" story.
Here's a paper from a reputable source (i.e. not a bunch of creationists) that's calls into question the link between K / T boundary mass extinction & the Chicxulub impact. I always thought that the story was too neat & tidy, and wondered about exactly how many samplings had been done & where to determine the "ubiquity" of the iridium layer.
The scientist in question, Mike Lee, used advanced computer modeling techniques and high level Bayesian mathematical statistical statistics to reach the conclusion that chickens are dinosaurs.
The paleontological community, which does not draw on a great many mathematical wizards for its membership, is mightily impressed. And Lee is Asian, so he knows that math and computer stuff. A Bayesian Asian, it doesn't get any more mathy than that.
He used an Australian supercomputer for Gaia's sake. How can you deniers question the results.
So if global freezing due to meteors shrank the dinosaurs...will global warming grow them back to their normal [man-eating] size? Heh.
If dinosaurs make a comeback, then there'll be yet another white meat and boy howdy!
I notice our friend Eric had no comments on the ebola thread.
And I think I know why!
How does one handle an infected porcupine?
Vewwwy cayfuwwwy.
Nothing better than a bit of comedy call and response. Thank you.
any time
Damn! If only I'd used my powers for good instead of evil.
"How does one handle an infected porcupine?"
First, we need some background. Is this a pet or a nickname for your Johnson?
Do you suspect rabies?
Thanks, YH. I wonder about the concentration of iridium being higher in Denmark. What about the rest of the world? Could the impact have been so intense that it created a gigantic 'poof' that caused the iridium to settle far away from the impact point? I'd be interested to know the distribution pattern of iridium with respect to the site of impact.
From Rabel's link "Doctors have documented cases of infection passed on from the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines."
Ohhhhh. Never mind.
Asking about the nickname of a commenter's Johnson is evolutionary blog material, as curious as an iridium pattern.
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