Origin and Evolution of Birds Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Origin and Evolution of Birds Paper - Assignment Example The paper tells that in the recent years, with enhancement in scientific development, much has been able to be got related to the origin and evolution of birds. With the help of techniques like computerized carbon dating and the rest, the origin of birds could be able to be pinpointed and much of the changes that took place in evolution place in a certain time. Since every species ought to survive in a given environment, a number of adaptation changes are adopted. Often, some of these adaptations result into serious and minor changes in the physical nature of the given species resulting in evolution. Evolution essentially is the gradual change of a species from the original to a different version. Birds too were not left behind in the evolution process. Survivals always a key feature in the maintenance of a given species. For any species to survive, means they had first to acquire the basic want like food and security. Birds for instance migrate to distance lands in search of food an d a reproduction place. In terms of security, birds that were preyed on by land animals might have found a way to fly to escape such predators. Often evolutions come as a means to overcome daily challenges in life. Over millions of years back, it has been researched that birds were the ancestors of dinosaurs called theropods. One of the most efficient survival strategies was migration. Migration was a complex task, yet most species created their own migration strategies for survival. Some species would migrate for a short distance and some would take long distances seeking for suitable environment (Feduccia 2). Thus, for species which needed long distance migration had their own specialized strategies. From this concept, we can think about the evolutionary origin of birds and their similarities to reptiles. For survival, reptiles had to go to a higher place in search for food, so they had the power to fly. Therefore, birds developed their wings, and later on they developed feathers. Birds have move power at flying than reptiles now. Bird flight origin is an immense issue in avian biology plus in the overall evolutionary theory. Often, many scientists have pointed to the fossilized Archaeopteryx specimens as evidence to the existence of a transitional vertebrate which developed during the evolution of birds from reptilian dinosaurs (Feduccia 18). Often, most birds do fly, therefore distinguishing them from the other vertebrate classes. Hence, flight is the chief means of locomotion in many bird species and can be for feeding, breeding, feeding, and escape plus predator avoidance. Birds have many adaptations for flight. These include having a lightweight skeleton, the pectorals (which accounts for 15% of the total mass of the bird), two large flight muscles, and the supracoracoideus.  Often, the wing size and shape determine a given bird’s species flight type (Feduccia 26). Often, many bird’s combine power and the flapping of their wings to fly, and once on air, flap less extensively to save on energy. It is estimated that about 60 bird species that are extant are flightless as were the case of many extinct birds (Miller, Vandome & McBrewster 234). Flight is hence seen as a very serious adaptation process in the evolution of birds that have enabled them to survive time. It has been found out that flightlessness sometimes arises in birds located in isolated islands,