What is the oldest bird in the world?

Q1: What is the oldest bird in the world?

A: So far, the oldest bird fossil found in the world is the Archaeopteryx fossil found in Solnhofen, Germany. Archaeopteryx lived on the Earth in the Late Jurassic period about 150 million years ago. Archaeopteryx has both bird and reptile characteristics.

Q2: Who is the ancestor of birds?

A: At present, the academic community generally recognizes that the ancestor of birds is a small theropod dinosaur with feathers.

Q3: How did birds fly into the blue sky?

A: Scientists speculate on the origin of bird flight based on the existence of fossil evidence. There are currently two theories about the origin of bird flight:

1. The terrestrial origin of flight: It is believed that the ancestors of birds lived on land, and their forelimbs gradually evolved into flapping wings in the process of running fast, and then flew into the sky.

2. The arboreal origin of flight: It is believed that the ancestors of birds lived half on the ground and half on trees, or lived completely in trees. Their forelimbs gradually evolved into flapping wings in the process of jumping from high to low, and then flew into the sky.

Q4: Why are birds the most successful flyers?

A: As the most successful species among terrestrial vertebrates, most members of the bird family are experts in flying (except for a few species with degraded flying abilities). With their unique way of flying, they can cross oceans, deserts and entire continents, from the equator to the poles, from rainforests to deserts, from mountains to oceans. Their organs and functions, including eyes, beaks, sternum, forelimbs (wings), coccyx, feathers, weight, three major systems (respiratory system, circulatory system, digestive system), etc., have all been specialized to adapt to flying and are different from other vertebrates. It is the coordination of these different body structures that makes birds the most successful flyers that cannot be surpassed by any animal that flies with its own organs, and they can soar in the blue sky for more than 100 million years.

Q5: How many birds are there in the world?

A: According to the statistics of scientists in the world, there are more than 9,000 bird species (biological clock), and new species are discovered every year. The number of members of this family is second only to the fish family, and it is firmly in the second largest family of vertebrates.

Q6: How many major categories can birds be divided into?

A: Birds can be divided into different types according to different classification principles. The traditional classification system of birds (relative to the bird DNA classification system) integrates the research results of morphology, biogeography, ecology, behavior, embryology, and paleontology, and is widely used worldwide. It divides all birds (including extinct ancient birds and living birds) into three major categories: primitive basal birds, anti-birds (subclass) and modern birds (subclass).

Q7: What is the function of bird feathers?

A: Feathers should be the most unique structure for birds to adapt to flying life. It provides birds with a streamlined appearance and plays an important role in temperature regulation and weight reduction. In particular, the output of lift and thrust of birds comes from wings mainly composed of feathers.

Q8: What tissue did feathers evolve from?

A: Based on feathered dinosaurs and primitive ancient bird fossils from China, scientists speculate that feathers are homologous to skin derivatives such as scales of reptiles, that is, feathers are the extension of skin derivatives such as scales of small theropod dinosaurs, and then a series of evolutions such as branches have formed feathers with flight ability.

Q9: Which bird is the largest and smallest?

A: China's smallest bird - Red-headed Long-tailed Tit. The Red-headed Long-tailed Tit is 10 cm long from the tip of its beak to the tip of its tail, of which its tail accounts for more than half of its body length, so its head and body add up to only about 5 cm.

The smallest bird in the world - Hummingbird. There are currently about 320 species of hummingbirds found around the world, among which the Honey Bee Sucker (Mellisuga helenae) weighs only 1.8 grams, making it the smallest bird in the world. Hummingbirds can hover in the air by flapping their wings quickly, and are also the only birds that can fly backwards.

The world's largest living bird: the African ostrich. It is the largest living bird in the world, with a body length of about 183 to 300 cm, a height of 240 to 280 cm, and a weight of 130 to 150 kg.

The largest bird in history - the elephant bird. The elephant bird that lived on the African island of Madagascar hundreds of years ago is the largest bird in the world, weighing 400 kg and 3 meters tall. Because of its delicious meat, it was hunted and killed by local natives and became extinct around the end of the 17th century. Today, the only perfect skeleton specimen of the elephant bird in the world is preserved in a museum in Paris, France.

The tallest bird fossil to date - the moa. Terror birds lived between 27 million and 15,000 years ago. They were estimated to be up to 3.6 meters tall and weighed about 200 kilograms. Their heads were larger than a horse's. They are now extinct. They may have originated in Eurasia. After arriving in America, they were at the top of the food chain and had no competitors. They once evolved to be quite large. They gradually declined until more ferocious cats entered America.

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