Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Newly-Discovered Cretaceous Bird Lived Among Dinosaurs, Was Strong Flier
Sci-News.com ^ | Nov 13, 2018 | News Staff / Source

Posted on 11/13/2018 9:14:47 AM PST by ETL

All birds evolved from feathered theropods — the two-legged dinosaurs like T. rex — beginning about 150 million years ago, and developed into many lineages in the Cretaceous period, between 146 and 65 million years ago.

But after the cataclysm that wiped out most of the dinosaurs, only one group of birds remained: the ancestors of the birds we see today.

Why did only one family survive the mass extinction? The newly-discovered fossil from one of those extinct bird groups, enantiornithines, deepens that mystery.

..."

Mirarce eatoni’s breast bone or sternum, where flight muscles attach, is more deeply keeled than other enantiornithines, implying a larger muscle and stronger flight more similar to modern birds.

The wishbone is more V-shaped, like the wishbone of modern birds and unlike the U-shaped wishbone of earlier avians and their dinosaur ancestors. The wishbone or furcula is flexible and stores energy released during the wing stroke.

“What is most exciting, however, are large patches on the forearm bones. These rough patches are quill knobs, and in modern birds they anchor the wing feathers to the skeleton to help strengthen them for active flight,” Dr. Atterholt said.

This is the first discovery of quill knobs in any enantiornithine bird, which tells us that Mirarce eatoni was a very strong flier.

“We know that birds in the early Cretaceous, about 115 to 130 million years ago, were capable of flight but probably not as well adapted for it as modern birds,” Dr. Atterholt said.

“What this new fossil shows is that enantiornithines, though totally separate from modern birds, evolved some of the same adaptations for highly refined, advanced flight styles.”

If enantiornithines in the late Cretaceous were just as advanced as modern birds, however, why did they die out with the dinosaurs while the ancestors of modern birds did not?

(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Science
KEYWORDS: cretaceous; dinosaurs; enantiornithines; godsgravesglyphs; mirarceeatoni; paleontology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last
Image result for Newly-Discovered Cretaceous Bird Lived Among Dinosaurs, Was Strong Flier
1 posted on 11/13/2018 9:14:47 AM PST by ETL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: ETL
Bird Lived Among Dinosaurs, Was Strong Flier

I bet so. :O)

2 posted on 11/13/2018 9:17:05 AM PST by HarleyD
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HarleyD

It better be! Lol!


3 posted on 11/13/2018 9:18:25 AM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ETL

Obviously Birds predate dinosaurs........................


4 posted on 11/13/2018 9:18:27 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ETL; Ezekiel
Duck!

Incoming....!!!!


5 posted on 11/13/2018 9:21:23 AM PST by Daffynition (Rudy: What are you up to today? :))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ETL
All birds evolved from feathered theropods

Sure they did!

ML/NJ

6 posted on 11/13/2018 9:24:36 AM PST by ml/nj (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ETL

YAWN.

More “settled ‘science’”.


7 posted on 11/13/2018 9:35:11 AM PST by treetopsandroofs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ETL

It had to be a strong flier so that it could carry stacks of Florida provisional ballots.


8 posted on 11/13/2018 9:36:29 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ETL

Reminds me of cowbirds and egrets hanging around bovines


9 posted on 11/13/2018 9:39:00 AM PST by waterhill (I Shall Remain, in spite of __________.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: treetopsandroofs

It’s only GoreBull Warming-type “science” that is “settled”, over and done, no doubt about it.


10 posted on 11/13/2018 9:40:15 AM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition
Gee the way that's hanging... I hope noone's using that for a crib mobile!


11 posted on 11/13/2018 9:41:24 AM PST by Ezekiel (All who mourn(ed!) the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

Howard!! Waugh!!


12 posted on 11/13/2018 9:45:59 AM PST by Jonah Hex
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ml/nj
Yep. They were descended from feathered theropods, so they were called Post Feathered-Theropod Fliers, or "P F Fliers" for short.

Honored in the 20th century with a brand of tennis shoes.

13 posted on 11/13/2018 9:51:37 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: ETL

Bodega Bay. Tippi Hedren. Phone booth.


14 posted on 11/13/2018 9:55:55 AM PST by VietVet876
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

*ping*


15 posted on 11/13/2018 10:28:51 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj ("It's Slappin' Time !")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ezekiel; Jonah Hex

In a show called Animatus, South Korean artist Hyungkoo Lee uses the techniques of paleontologists to create the skeletons of familiar comic figures such as Donald Duck..

https://thewondrous.com/incredible-cartoon-skeleton-art-by-hyungkoo-lee/


16 posted on 11/13/2018 4:07:35 PM PST by Daffynition (Rudy: What are you up to today? :))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: fieldmarshaldj; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...
Thanks fieldmarshaldj.

17 posted on 11/13/2018 4:10:46 PM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Does it taste like chicken?


18 posted on 11/13/2018 4:14:59 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Not sure, but there was a big bucket of fosillized coleslaw right next to the bird..

19 posted on 11/13/2018 4:33:14 PM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: ETL

I’m guessing they nested in burrows.

There are owls, parrots and some sea birds who do so today.

Burrow nesters are protected from the global fires and are used to lower oxygen levels that followed the Chicxulub impact.

A few species of birds, small mammals (burrow dwelling?) a hand full of reptiles (buried egg nesting?) managed to survive.

Here’s my take on the Chicxulube strike:

A Chicxulub-sized event rings the planet like a bell, any fault that is near its critical strain is apt to let loose.

Doctors and coroners have a term, coup contercoup, that means damage to the opposite side of the brain from where the skull was struck.

Imagine you are standing on the spot exactly on the opposite side from the strike. The shock waves race around the globe and come together (focus, if you will) right under your feet!

On a lower gravity bodies such as the moon, big impacts have delivered sufficient coup countercoup force to jet material off into space.

I don’t doubt that nearby magma would be squirted up through the resulting shattered bedrock.

Add to that the fact that Chicxulub was a shallow water strike and the surrounding sea formed a wall around the white hot crater as it attempted to flood in. It was like a 120 mile wide rocket nozzle jetting vaporized seawater and any entrained atmosphere into space. As the crater was quenched, the force of the boiling reduced, and the remaining flood of sea water and air steam-cleaned half the planet.

It was a bad day.

On land nothing larger than a house cat survived. I suspect all the surviving animals were burrow dwellers, animals already used to breathing lower oxygen content than their larger peers. The thinned atmosphere was a final insult to the bigger surface dwellers.


20 posted on 11/13/2018 6:21:58 PM PST by null and void (Leftards don't know what 12000 illegal aliens marching thru Mexico know - America's a Great country!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson