Article:
Mapping the "Big Bang" of Bird Evolution
Summary:
Scientists have already known that the birds who survived the mass extinction of dinosaurs experienced a rapid burst in evolution causing their family tree to grow immensely. Birds have a biodiversity of more than 10,000 species all coming from a common ancestor and each bird has adapted to find a niche in its environment.
The new, modern birds, Neoaves are only a branch of the entire bird "tree." The entire genome analysis dates the evolutionary expansion of Neoaves to the time of the mass extinction 66 million years ago leading scientist to believe that it killed off all dinosaurs except some birds. This contradicts the idea that Neoaves blossomed 10 to 80 million years earlier, as some recent studies suggested. The open niches caused by extinction allowed species of birds to radiate in less than 15 million years, which explains much of modern bird biodiversity.
Based on this new genomic data, few bird lineages survived the mass extinction. These few species gave rise to the more than 10,000 Neoaves making up 95 percent of all bird species on Earth today.
Based on this new genomic data, few bird lineages survived the mass extinction. These few species gave rise to the more than 10,000 Neoaves making up 95 percent of all bird species on Earth today.
Relavance:
This article relates to the topic we are currently studying in class: evolution of life. This data shows how birds had to adapt and fill empty niches to survive after the mass extinction. They also used adaptive radiation to become more diverse from each other and evolve.
This article relates to the topic we are currently studying in class: evolution of life. This data shows how birds had to adapt and fill empty niches to survive after the mass extinction. They also used adaptive radiation to become more diverse from each other and evolve.
Citations:
"Mapping the "Big Bang" of Bird Evolution." Scientific Computing. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2015.
http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2014/12/mapping-big-bang-bird-evolution
What enabled some bird lineages to survive the mass extinction event as opposed to others?
ReplyDeleteSome birds have either been more developed than other species causing them to have a better chance of survival, a type of natural selection. Also, depending on where the population was located, a specific specie may have had a better chance of survival.
DeleteDo you know any characteristics that make a Neoave bird distinguishable from a non-Neoave bird/ any characteristics that all Neoave birds have in common?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the article, Neoaves are only a branch of the entire bird "tree." They consist of all the new, modern birds e see today.
Delete