The Origin of Birds
09/19/20 • 25 min
2 Listeners
Episode: 1Summary
Learn about the deep evolutionary origin of birds and follow their history up to the great extinction that happened 66 million years ago.
First, I discuss what we mean when we say “bird.” What characteristics separate modern birds from other animal groups?
Then I discuss the evidence—both historical and recent—that scientists have used to determine the evolutionary history of birds.
Finally, we arrive at the answer of where birds fit on the tree of life.
Research Citations
- Discovery of collagen protein in Tyrannosaurus femur (Asara et al. 2007. Science)
- Archaeornithura, the earliest known true ancestor of birds (Wang et al. 2015. Nature Communications)
Errors and Clarifications
Error - 05:39 min: I say that scientists have genome sequences for 'all living birds.' What I meant was that we have genome sequences for representative species within each of the living bird families.
Episode: 1Summary
Learn about the deep evolutionary origin of birds and follow their history up to the great extinction that happened 66 million years ago.
First, I discuss what we mean when we say “bird.” What characteristics separate modern birds from other animal groups?
Then I discuss the evidence—both historical and recent—that scientists have used to determine the evolutionary history of birds.
Finally, we arrive at the answer of where birds fit on the tree of life.
Research Citations
- Discovery of collagen protein in Tyrannosaurus femur (Asara et al. 2007. Science)
- Archaeornithura, the earliest known true ancestor of birds (Wang et al. 2015. Nature Communications)
Errors and Clarifications
Error - 05:39 min: I say that scientists have genome sequences for 'all living birds.' What I meant was that we have genome sequences for representative species within each of the living bird families.
Next Episode
Competition Between Bird Species
Episode: 2
Summary
Learn about the ways that different bird species compete with each other over food and other resources.
I first talk about the concept of the ecological niche, since this is so important to this episode's topic.
Then, I get into the different forms of competition between bird species and present the possible outcomes of that competition.
Lastly, I briefly touch on the general approaches that scientists take in studying interspecies competition in birds.
Links to Some Things Mentioned in this Episode
Research Citations
- Competition among scavenging birds in Peru (Wallace and Temple. 1987. The Auk)
- Red-winged Blackbirds vs. Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Weller and Spatcher. 1965. Special Report)
- Birdfeeder dominance hierarchy among 136 bird species in North America (Miller et al. 2017. Behavioral Ecology)
- Competition among tits in Swedish Winter (Alatalo et al. 1987. Ecology)
Errors and Clarifications
Error - 23:04 min: I say that the second type of competition between species is "exploitation interference". I meant to say exploitation competition. I make this error repeatedly in this section. My apologies!
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