How does the dinosaur learn to fly?

Today, few people deny that birds are descendants of dinosaurs. However, few people imagine how the first hairy dinosaurs learned to fly?

About 50 years ago, the idea that birds were descendants of dinosaurs seemed completely absurd and encountered strong opposition. Birds, small, light-weight creatures while dinosaurs are slow and obvious giants without any aerodynamic characteristics.

However, scientists have gradually discovered evidence of small dinosaurs with feathers, bird beaks and many other characteristics like modern birds. From here, the clear connection between dinosaurs and birds is recognized by scientists and the public. Today, paleontologists rarely dispute that the origin of dinosaur birds.

However, not every aspect of the transition between birds and dinosaurs has been solved. Researchers also disagree about which dinosaurs have the closest family to modern birds, the most aerodynamic or hairy. The most difficult thing is how the first reptile birds achieved a leap of evolution into sky gods.

The origin of hairy dinosaurs

The question of why and how, the small carnivorous dinosaurs in the Jurassic and White Chalk evolved scientists' headaches.

A common mistake among those not well versed in the theory of evolution is that feather development is only for the purpose of flying. Evolution, in fact, is a blind process: no one knows where certain characteristics will go until reality allows it to exist.

Therefore, the explanation that many people accept is that dinosaurs evolved to have feathers to protect them from cold weather of super-cold climates, or may be a way to make dinosaurs more attractive in the dinosaur's eyes opposite sex.

Pictures of furry dinosaur simulation.

Because modern birds also have evidence for evolution. There are birds, for hundreds of millions of years, that don't fly but still have feathers. And if there are feathers only for the purpose of flying, there is nothing, from an evolutionary point of view, the penguin still has feathers. In fact, they have thick short hairs that are waterproof and warm.

Using research, paleontologists identified Archeopteryx and Epidendrosaurus, which appeared in the late Jurassic period about 150 million years ago, as the first hairy dinosaurs. This process proceeded by the dinosaur hairs that were short and like the hairs of the dinosaurs gradually evolved into long, flat hairs, suitable for catching the air.

From this important feature, the next question is: how do the furry dinosaurs fly?

Theory 1: Furry dinosaurs take steps to jump

Extrapolating from the behavior of modern birds like ostriches, scientists believe that small and medium-sized carnivorous dinosaurs in the Cretaceous (especially Ornithomimid species) can be achieved. Maximum operating speed of 48-60km / h.

When they run (chase prey or try to escape before larger predators), it is the insulating fur coat that helps them to jump into their aerodynamic form. As a result, they hunt and avoid eating meat more easily. Their survival ability will be higher, and continue to proliferate. The next generation will evolve to make the hair grow bigger and help them 'jump' longer and longer.

Fossils of dinosaurs.

This is the basis for them to reach their ability to fly for a 'short' time - a lifecycle of hundreds of millions of years. Not for a moment, a small-sized dinosaur, suddenly jumped from a cliff and took off like a modern bird. Besides, this process occurs in many different dinosaur genera.

In the Nova chapter of the book Four-Winged Dinosaurs (the work of the newly discovered Microraptorthat dinosaur in China), a scientist described the theory that the flight learning process of giants Furry is summed up in the flight learning of a newly born modern bird.

Theory 2: Furry dinosaurs fly from falling from trees

Birds are not modern animals that can serve as a basis for extrapolating back to the flight learning behavior of extinct dinosaurs. Flying squirrels are also a good example.

They skim through the forest by jumping from high branches, extending the skin attached to their winged arms and legs to fly to other branches. Although flying squirrels do not fully meet the ability to fly, each of their glides is impressive distance. Even some species can travel as far as 2/3 of the length of a football field (about 60-80m).

Similarly, scientists envisioned the theory that some carnivorous dinosaurs have fur, small size and may have lived on tall trees that can do this. They may have followed the same evolutionary path as flying squirrels. Gliding over longer distances helps their fur gradually evolve to have optimal shape and structure.

As time goes on, evolution helps them to have flapping wings, which allows them to put pressure on the air to constantly fly the evolution of prehistoric birds.

However, this theory is somewhat weaker with the hypothesis of learning to fly based on jumping up and down instead of sliding from tree to tree. Moreover, despite having gone through millions of years of evolution, no flying squirrels have gained 'true flying' skills.

Build a family tree between modern dinosaurs and birds

One of the main difficulties of paleontologists is the continuous discovery of many new genera of small-sized carnivorous dinosaurs, especially in the Liaoning fossil (China) area. Since these specimens date back to the geologic period tens of millions of years apart, this makes it difficult for paleontologists to accurately reproduce the evolutionary flow of dinosaurs into birds.

Reproduce the simulation image of furry dinosaurs.

The quirky four-wing Microraptor is a good example of controversy among paleontologists. Some argue that it is the end of evolution, others think it is an "intermediate" form between dinosaurs and birds. Another group said that this species is not a dinosaur but an evolutionary branch of the Archosaur.

Today, most paleontologists are theorizing that birds originated from hairy carnivorous dinosaurs and that they learn to slowly jump on the ground rather than from sliding from tree to tree. other. However, similar to everything else, these views may change with a new archaeological discovery.