Found: Evidence That Archaeopteryx Evolved Like Darwin’s Finches

This is a great find, I think, as personally I have never seen any instance of dinosaur adaption and speciation across different geography before.

Found: Evidence That Archaeopteryx Evolved Like Darwin’s Finches

Over the years since the first Archaeopteryx fossils were found, in 1861, scientific opinion on them has evolved. The feathered dinosaur that represents an evolutionary transition to modern birds, lived in Bavaria, in southern Germany, around 150 million years ago, at the very end of the Jurassic. At the time the region was covered by a shallow sea and home to subtropical islands—the Solnhofen Archipelago—that stretched all the way to the Mediterranean.

In 2010, scientists found the 12th Archaeopteryx fossil and its analysis is helping rewrite what we think we know about them yet again. This new research suggests that there may not have been just one Archaeopteryx, but rather that they evolved across the Solnhofen Islands in the million years they spent on Earth.

A team of experts led by Oliver Rahut, of Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, compared the fossil to previously found specimens, and noticed that each had a different tooth structure.

Prior to that, it wasn't really clear if previously found fossils belonged to the same species or different ones.

Here's the actual science paper on this: peerj.com...

This helps show that the world of dinosaurs and dinosaur-like creatures was a dynamic thing, resulting in evolution through time, just as with the rest of the animal world.

I think the dinosaurs all drown a long time ago. There was a big flood reported in many cultures. The ones that couldn't swim, sank

originally posted by: visitedbythem
I think the dinosaurs all drown a long time ago. There was a big flood reported in many cultures. The ones that couldn't swim, sank

Dinosaurs lived long before people.

a reply to: wildespace

Sure to be dismissed. Some prefer to believe God took the etch-a-sketch approach to life on Earth. He drew some dinosaurs and shake shake shake replaced them with Adam and Eve.

originally posted by: visitedbythem
I think the dinosaurs all drown a long time ago. There was a big flood reported in many cultures. The ones that couldn't swim, sank

nah they caught a ride on the ark with Noah and his pals

originally posted by: Akragon

originally posted by: visitedbythem
I think the dinosaurs all drown a long time ago. There was a big flood reported in many cultures. The ones that couldn't swim, sank

nah they caught a ride on the ark with Noah and his pals

I heard they missed the ark bc they were too late. Sad!

a reply to: wildespace

Yes given time and isolation that is they way critters evolve or perish.. from your link:

“Archaeopteryx also inhabited an archipelago of tropical islands that its ancestor probably invaded a short time before,” he says. “The different patterns in the dentition in Archaeopteryx might also indicate different food adaptations.” Darwin would have approved.

Why is it that people here are compelled to sling mud at Christian ignorance. If you open minded intellectuals would read Genesis you might see how it supports evolution and how other misinterpreted verses don't support that the universe was created in literally seven days or that creation is merely 10,000 years old.

It's true in my opinion that certain Christian traditions and an ignorant understanding of the Bible is narrow minded, but bigoted comments about said ignorance contributes nothing to this discussion and makes you look just as ignorant.

a reply to: visitedbythem

obvious question wy did a huge number of marine dinasaurs , like Ichthyosaurus

become extinct at the same time as terrestrial dinosaurs ?

a reply to: ignorant_ape

There was also a great drought...at the same time.

originally posted by: ignorant_ape
a reply to: visitedbythem

obvious question wy did a huge number of marine dinasaurs , like Ichthyosaurus

become extinct at the same time as terrestrial dinosaurs ?

I doubt there will be many who will take the time to watch the whole video... shame really for it ties the extinction events of the past with the periodic eruptions of Flood Basalts the world over... Siberia (251 mya), India (66 mya ), and the Pacific North West, USA which buried 45 million acres in basalt to name just a few .... Some of these eruptions lasted over a millions of years and covered 1000s or square miles to a depth of several "MILES".. This was a big deal for life on planet earth. The connection starts at 20:55 for those interested in the 541, 251 and 66 million year old extinction events which are all tied to flood Basalt eruptions on the surface of the planet which should make anyone wonder what was happening below the sea and as of this posting unknown ? youtu.be...

a reply to: wildespace

Check out this picture of a Cassowary, does it not resemble a dinosaur?



I read an interesting article a few weeks ago where some Scottish researchers claimed that certain species of birds such as the Cassowary, the Emu and the Ostrich could be classified as modern day dinosaurs. Yes it sounds bat $h!t crazy but any paleontologist would say the truth is in the bones, and like Shakira their hips don't lie as some species of birds share a similar Hip bone structure to certain species of raptors.

You can thank Spielberg for the common misconceptions about dinosaurs, in fact the author who penned the source material made the mistake in naming the book Jurassic Park when pretty much all those dinosaurs existed in the cretaceous period. An easy mistake to make; after all we are human, or are we...

originally posted by: Vector99

originally posted by: visitedbythem
I think the dinosaurs all drown a long time ago. There was a big flood reported in many cultures. The ones that couldn't swim, sank

Dinosaurs lived long before people.

Sure they did. That's why there are human footprints next to Dino prints.

a reply to: visitedbythem

If I recall, most creationists have shunned that “theory” as false.

But who knows after seeing this historically accurate image if Jesus...

a reply to: Chadwickus

I knew at least one of his followers took pictures

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

If you can find it watch the autopsy of one.
Fascinating.

originally posted by: Chadwickus
a reply to: visitedbythem

If I recall, most creationists have shunned that “theory” as false.

But who knows after seeing this historically accurate image if Jesus...

That's not Christ
Your being silly

Birds didn't evolve from Dinosaurs though! I've yet to see any credible evidence that they have.

It’s been known for decades that the femur, or thigh bone in birds is largely fixed and makes birds into “knee runners,” unlike virtually all other land animals, the [Oregon State University] experts say.

What was just discovered, however, is that it’s this fixed position of bird bones and musculature that keeps their air-sac lung from collapsing when the bird inhales. Warm-blooded birds need about 20 times more oxygen than cold-blooded reptiles, and have evolved a unique lung structure that allows for a high rate of gas exchange and high activity level.

Their unusual thigh complex is what helps support the lung and prevent its collapse. “This is fundamental to bird physiology,” said Devon Quick, an OSU instructor of zoology who completed this work as part of her doctoral studies. “It’s really strange that no one realized this before.

The position of the thigh bone and muscles in birds is critical to their lung function, which in turn is what gives them enough lung capacity for flight.” However, every other animal that has walked on land, the scientists said, has a moveable thigh bone that is involved in their motion — including humans, elephants, dogs, lizards and — in the ancient past — dinosaurs.

The implication, the researchers said, is that birds almost certainly did not descend from theropod dinosaurs, such as tyrannosaurus or allosaurus. The findings add to a growing body of evidence in the past two decades that challenge some of the most widely-held beliefs about animal evolution…. “But one of the primary reasons many scientists kept pointing to birds as having descended from dinosaurs was similarities in their lungs,” Ruben said. “However, theropod dinosaurs had a moving femur and therefore could not have had a lung that worked like that in birds.

Their abdominal air sac, if they had one, would have collapsed. That undercuts a critical piece of supporting evidence for the dinosaur-bird link.

sauce

originally posted by: ignorant_ape
a reply to: visitedbythem

obvious question wy did a huge number of marine dinasaurs , like Ichthyosaurus

become extinct at the same time as terrestrial dinosaurs ?

Better yet, why did some land dinosaurs survive, like alligators and crocodiles?

originally posted by: trollz

originally posted by: ignorant_ape
a reply to: visitedbythem

obvious question wy did a huge number of marine dinasaurs , like Ichthyosaurus

become extinct at the same time as terrestrial dinosaurs ?

Better yet, why did some land dinosaurs survive, like alligators and crocodiles?

Alligators and crocodiles aren't dinosaurs.

Birds are, though. They are feathered, warm-blooded therapod dinosaurs, very closely related to raptors.

One study found that dinosaurs weren't exactly cold-blooded: www.bbc.co.uk... ...so it's natural to accept that some of those of them who evolved feathers eventually became warm-blooded.