A great diversity of dinosaurs roamed the earth until 66 million years ago, when an asteroid impact changed the global ecosystem so much that they died out ...with the exception of a few kinds of avian dinosaurs that eventually became birds. What made those survivors so special? How were they different from all those dinos that died out in the aftermath of the impact? One theory holds that it was the beaks.
When the extinction struck, the traits birds had been evolving for millions of years made the difference between life and death. While some birds survived the impact and its aftermath, not all of them did. “When we think about hypotheses of traits that let birds survive, we need to take into account that it was only a small sliver of diversity that made it to the other side,” Felice says. Entire groups of birds, such as toothed birds called enantiornithes, went extinct. It’s unlikely that one single trait determined the fate of all these species. Still, surviving extinction often comes down to luck, and beaks may have been some birds’ ace.
By the end of the Cretaceous, beaked birds were already eating a much more varied diet than their toothed relatives. These birds weren’t specialized on insects or other animal food, and so they were able to pluck up hard food items like seeds and nuts. And in the aftermath of the extinction, when animal life was severely cut back, those hard, persistent little morsels got beaked birds through the hard times. Beaked birds were able to feed on the seeds of the destroyed forests and wait out the decades until vegetation began to return.
There's a lot more to the story, which you can read at Smithsonian.
(Image credit: Steveoc 86)
Comments (1)
You don't see the beauty in raising the boy as a bird?
It's almost poetic.
Sad though it was to have been at the expense of a normal childhood, it's still something very interesting! And I wonder if it's only the language (vocal and body) that he picked up from the birds. How about eating habits, or the way he walks?
And I think it would be very cool if he never forgot how to do this. That when he grows up after living a life with human interaction et al, he still retains his ability to communicate with birds. I wouldn't mind being able to do that..
Although that it is unusual that his mother never spoke to him at all. Pet owners talk to their pets like they can understand what they're saying! And here she is, not saying a word at all? .. Strange.
But then again, raising your son as a pet bird is already lightyears beyond strange.
It seems like it's more unfortunate that it took so long for authorities to uncover this than anything else.
I know what you mean and it's true, however, it's a big deal when it just happens that a human life is affected by it. Sure, she may have been unstable (or not) but the fact is that one persons action has undoubtedly caused a child to grow up like this. And yes...it's sad that the authorities got to this late as they have but maybe through some extensive psychological treatment and some good human contact this boy can regain a childhood he's lost.
There is the case of the girl (can't remember where from) who grew up among dogs who through some steady treatment was able to live in society again.
Unfortunately, psychologists are gonna be all over this poor boy when they (and the police) should be all over his mother.
This whole this bothers me on so many levels.
Also there was another boy who grew up with dogs in Ukraine, as well as a boy found in the forest in France (I think that was the first documented case, too bad I forgot his name), and then there was this girl from Los Angeles that was horribly abused by her parents and kept in a dark room in a diaper etc until she was 10 or 11.
Yea, I wouldn't worry about Russian society Bonnie, all humans are capable of the same thing.