[Catalist] Dinosaur Extinction and Evolution of Birds

[Michael McGarry]

Dinosaur Extinction and Evolution of Birds

Greetings CATALIST and ASTRARIX 2.0 subscribers,

My four-year-old granddaughter recently asked me from Hong Kong, via Face Time, “What caused the dinosaurs to become extinct?” How do you explain the dinosaur extinction event, with understanding, to a four-year-old? Are primary school children still fascinated with dinosaurs?

I explained that big dust clouds thrown into the air by a large asteroid colliding with the Earth blocked sunlight from reaching the Earth’s surface, which caused green plants to die. Green-plants need sunlight to grow. Plant-eating dinosaurs then died because they had no green plants to eat. Eventually, the meat-eating dinosaurs also died because there were no living plant-eating dinosaurs for the meat-eating dinosaurs to eat.

URL 1: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/dinosaur-extinction/?beta=true <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/dinosaur-extinction/?beta=true>
URL 2: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html <http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/events/cowen1b.html>
Which dinosaurs survived the K – T extinction?

URL 3: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/dinosaurs-asteroid-birds-forests-fires-paleontology-science/?beta=true <https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/dinosaurs-asteroid-birds-forests-fires-paleontology-science/?beta=true>
The Evolution of Birds

Birds evolved from a lineage of dinosaurs called Theropods.

URL 4: https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_06 <https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_06>
To gain a more complete understanding of the origin of birds we should update our knowledge of Archaeopteryx as a transitional fossil.

URL 5: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/31/archeopteryxs-evolutionary-humuliation-continues/ <http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/07/31/archeopteryxs-evolutionary-humuliation-continues/>
We should also know “How Chinese fossils are rewriting the history of feathered [avian] dinosaurs”.

URL 6: https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeontology/jurassic-flight-school <https://cosmosmagazine.com/palaeontology/jurassic-flight-school>
URL 7: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/29/the-changing-science-of-just-about-birds-and-not-quite-birds/ <http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/29/the-changing-science-of-just-about-birds-and-not-quite-birds/>
URL 8: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11775 <https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11775>
My fascination with feathered Birds

Birds are a wonder of nature. I study the behaviour of birds visiting my front courtyard birdbath. My favourite bush-bird is the new Holland honeyeater.

URL 9: http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/New-Holland-Honeyeater <http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/New-Holland-Honeyeater>
I also study the delightful behaviour of waterbirds at Tomato Lake [a water compensating basin] in Kewdale in WA during my morning exercise walk around the Lake.

I have uploaded to ASTARIX 2.0 e-forum a PDF of a family of pink-eared ducks paddling in Tomato Lake. Why are they called pink-eared ducks, as you cannot see their ears?

URL 10: http://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/pink-eared-duck <http://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/pink-eared-duck>
Best Wishes,

Michael John McGarry

PS: Studying behaviour of birds is more enjoyable than marking exam papers.

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