Remember Jurassic Park?
Those guys were so silly.
if they wanted to see dinosaurs, just go outside.
They're BIRDS NOW!
Hey raptors, Trace here for DNews.
Dinosaurs are of constant fascination to humans all over the planet.
150 million years ago, birds were giant animals roaming free across the planet, until 65 million
years ago, when that big asteroid hit causing a massive extinction across the entirety of
our planet.
Obviously, our ancient mammalian ancestors were able to survive, as were many other animals
-- mostly by burrowing into the ground or hiding in the water to escape the initial
heat, and then surviving on smaller prey during the ensuing years of cold.
The big fellas like diplodocus would never have survived -- they couldn't seek shelter
and needed far too much food.
But, according to new research published in the journal Science, some dinosaurs DID survive,
the smaller ones.
Scientists at the University of Adelaide analyzed the skeletal characteristics of 1,500 dinosaurs
over 50-million years and found theropods -- a carnivorous dinosaur family which included
tyrannosaurus -- got smaller, and smaller over that time.
In fact, they got smaller in 12 separate mutations, going from 163 kilos on average to the 0.8
kilo Archaeopteryx, the first bird.
Because they kept getting smaller, and because they ate meat rather than plant life, they
were able to survive the asteroid strike and ensuing extinction.
The reason meat eaters survived was because they didn't require as large a body as plant
eaters -- less body means less to take care of which means survival!
Yay!
Separate research, also published in Science last month, theorizes that ALL dinosaurs had
feathers, some were more primitive, more like hairs or bristles, while others were soft
and downy like modern birds.
They discovered this when they found a new dinosaur called Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus
which had feathers, but couldn't fly.
This, combined with other evidence is enough to make a theory, but not a final determination.
Though, taken together, it's pretty easy to see that modern birds are probably tiny dinosaurs,
and the scientists were quoted in the Washington Post saying, "Without a doubt," that is the
case.
But why would these dinosaurs get smaller?
What would be the purpose?
Scientists say there would be a distinct advantage.
Smaller carnivorous dinosaurs with feathers would be able to climb trees, glide, and MAYBE
fly -- allowing them to hunt prey that differed from their larger carnivorous brethren, also
helping them survive extinction.
"They just knew how to innovate, evolutionarily speaking," Discovery News writer Richard Farrell
said.
If you take this to be true, as many paleontologists today do, then instead of being extinct, there
are 10,000 species of dinosaur living and breathing on our planet still today, even
more than there are mammals or reptiles!
Maybe had some fried dinosaur for dinner last night, or went out to fill the dinosaur-feeder
in your yard or perhaps you have a pet dinosaur in a cage in your house…
All of those sound pretty frickin' cool to me.
What do you think?
Are you on board with the dinosaur-bird changeover?
Are you going to start calling it KFD or eat dinosaur noodle soup when you’re sick?
Make your own jokes down in the comments and subscribe to our channel for more DNews!
We post all day on Facebook, Twitter and GooglePlus -- and make two videos every day of the week.
Thank you so much for watching!