Althouse: Birds are evolved dinosaurs.

December 4, 2005

More evidence. With feathers.

reader_iam said...: The birds-from-dinosaur thing is my son's absolute favorite "fun fact."

As an extension, he likes to ask: "If you were a bird what dinosaur would you have originally come from?"

My favorite answer? Velicoraptor.

Makes his eyes widen every time.; 12/4/05, 1:09 PM
Beau said...: Anyone with a parrot knows that birds are fluffy dinos. It's the 'alien' eyes. One closed, one open,with an eyelid snapping open at the first hint of air movement. They are quite marvelous. I've never lost the sense that sharing their world is a privilege.; 12/4/05, 6:24 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Hey, last I knew, mammels were evolved from dinosaurs too. But I think that birds remain a bit closer.; 12/4/05, 7:13 PM
Icepick said...: Mammals did not evolve from dinosaurs. Mammals are a branch of Synapsida, which dominated the landscape before the Archosaurs, of which the Dinosaurs are a part, evolved. We're older than them.; 12/4/05, 7:33 PM
Sanjay said...: Eh, I think the big deal here is the foot, not the feathers --- but I think the ash-preserved finds in China really nailed the whole debate anyway. I love that they found dinsaurs that had been preserved in ash while sleeping with a head tucked under an arm, just like a bird.; 12/4/05, 10:00 PM