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>> Joe: You know it’s a good day when you wake up, slam some folgers, miraculously blow
through every single stop light, and then show up to work to solve a 150 Year Old evolutionary
mystery.
I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s an Ice Cube lyric.
Guys, scientists have Hardy Boys’d the mystery behind New Zealand’s flightless wonder,
the Kiwi.
You see, up until now, it was assumed the tiny Kiwi was closely related to the similarly
flightless, but much larger Cassowary and Emu.
Hey, what do you call a big bird that constantly listens to AFI and Death Cab for Cutie?
An Emo.
But, after the discovery and subsequent analysis of kiwi fossils, it turns out that the Kiwi
actually branches off from the Madagascan Elephant Bird, which grew to be about 10 feet
tall, weighed 550 pounds and sadly went extinct about a 1,000 years ago.
It also turns out these Kiwian ancestors, probably totes, retained the ability to fly
back in the day.
Flinders University's Dr Trevor Worthy said, "We recently found fossils of small kiwi ancestors,
which we suggested might have had the power of flight not too long ago.
The genetic results back up this interpretation, and confirm that kiwis were flying when they
arrived in New Zealand.
It also explains why the kiwi remained small.
By the time it arrived in New Zealand, the large herbivore role was already taken by
the moa, forcing the kiwi to stay small, and become insectivorous and nocturnal.”
Scary ass moa chased the Kiwi into the night.
Side note, the moa is also extinct.
These findings give cause for a rethink of origin theories.
It was assumed that these birds became isolated back when the contents drifted apart, but
now, it seems these little guys probably flew between continents before losing the gift
of flight.
This revelation makes New Zealanders happy because now the Kiwi, an animal for which
they retain a bunch of pride and greatly identify themselves with, isn’t as closely connected
to the flightless birds of Australia.
I read it being described as such, if the emu was a cousin to the kiwi, the elephant
bird was a sibling.
A big ass, terrifying bird sibling.
Guys, thanks for taking this evolutionary adventure with me.
Click the annotation for more video journeys, and before you go, I just wanted to say, you
know, because I don’t say it enough sometimes…it’s just that…
I love you.
Okay, shut up.
Get outta here.
I’ll text ya later.
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