20+ Caudal vertebrae is a wee bit more than birds have
Index of Evidence for Evolution Threads
by cofty 120 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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peacefulpete
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cofty
I'm not referring to a vestigial egg tooth as you well know.
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peacefulpete
Our definition of 'bird' now includes many toothed ancestral types.
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LoveUniHateExams
Well done, Cofty, not only for all the work you put in but also for putting all the evolution posts together.
@TonusOH - almost.
The current model states that birds evolved from a group of dinosaurs called theropods. Most scientists agree with this, although not all - a few propose that both birds and theropods had a common basal archosaur ancestor.
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peacefulpete
Cofty,....I posted the egg tooth comment before remembering that the egg tooth in birds seems an example of convergent evolution not vestigial. Anyway, living birds have the genes to produce teeth. They can be triggered to begin growing. Surprise: Chickens Can Grow Teeth | Live Science
The tooth genes are vestigial.
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peacefulpete
What also interesting is that only beaked bird lineages survived the KT extinction. Perhaps their ability to eat stored seeds and nuts contributed. However afterward, without the competition from pterosaurs, birds filled specialized meat eating niches once again. Teeth would become useful again. This time evolution experimented with 'pseudoteeth' rather than reactivating latent tooth genes. These birds had bony toothlike protrusions from the jaw that were covered with keratin. Pelagornithidae - Wikipedia
Evolution doesn't always take the most logical route but given enough time and repetitions it arrives at useful adaptations.
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peacefulpete
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TonusOH
Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds just doesn't seem all that scary anymore. :anguished: