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An Avian Big Bang
What do T. Rex and a kestrel have in common?
© Johnx1 - FreakingNews.com
Many scientists believe that the fate of the dinosaurs was sealed when an asteroid struck the earth 66 million years ago. Some dinosaurs survived, and among them were the early ancestors of birds. Recently an international research team sequenced the genomes of 45 birds of diverse lineages. The results revealed a surprising discovery: the common ancestor of today’s birds — among them warblers, parrots, woodpeckers, falcons, and owls — was a top-of-the-food-chain carnivore!
This "bird," however, is a flight of fancy, courtesy of FreakingNews.com.
BirdNote®
An Avian Big Bang
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[Wind Noise and music rise]
Many scientists believe that the demise of the dinosaurs began when an asteroid struck the earth 66 million years ago, near what is now the Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. [Editor's note: Others believe that the decline of dinosaurs had already begun and that the asteroid was the final blow.]
In the nuclear winter-like conditions that followed, some dinosaurs survived, and among them were the early ancestors of birds. These gave rise to what's been called the Big Bang of bird evolution. Birds underwent an extraordinary diversification, over five to 10 million years.
Nearly 95% of the 10,000-plus bird species now flying, swimming, and walking on earth came out of this evolutionary moment. [American Robin song, ML 94383, 0.10-.14]
Recently a huge international research team sequenced the full genomes of 45 birds of diverse lineages. The group used the unprecedented wealth of DNA data to rewrite avian genealogy. Their conclusions were published in December 2014.
One other finding from this prodigious data-crunching: the common ancestor of today’s birds – among them warblers, parrots, woodpeckers, falcons, and owls – was an “apex predator.”
A top-of-the-food-chain carnivore. [Northern Cardinal song ML 176241]
So even a seed-eating cardinal has something like T. Rex in its family tree. [Northern Cardinal song ML 176241]
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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. American Robin song [94383] recorded by W L Hershberger; Northern Cardinal song [176241] recorded by G A Keller.
"Another New World" by Punch Brothers from the album Ahoy, 2012 Nonesuch Records
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org March 2018 Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# aviangenome-01-2015-03-02aviangenome-01
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
