This tree, which uses genetic data from 48 many species to trace how birds developed and survived after the dinosaurs died, is considered one of the most comprehensive ever created. This international study was done by more than 200 researchers from 20 countries. It provides a deeper understanding of how different species evolved and helps to explain why certain characteristics, like color vision, singing, colored feathers and toothlessness, have been inherited.
Researchers analyzed three previously sequenced species and then decoded the DNA of other bird types, covering virtually all of current bird groups. These species were crows and cranes as well as vultures, loons and finches. Nearly all of modern bird evolution took place after the death of the dinosaurs millions years ago. Simon Ho from Sydney University, Australia led part of the evolutionary timeline study.
He said that while the popular belief was that birds evolved during the dinosaur age, but there is little evidence to support this. The Avian Physics Consortium has worked for four years and brought together many 200 researchers in order to understand how birds developed. Photo: Eurekalert. Professor Ho’s part of the study confirmed that the first lines of modern birds appeared around 100million years ago.
His team found, however, that the majority of modern bird species diversified within a very short timeframe of 10 millions years after an asteroid destroyed dinosaurs. Professor Ho stated that “our team needed to create a variety of new methods in order to deal with the most extensive bird data ever collected.” This required more than 400 year of computing power on nine supercomputers. This allowed the team to identify the relationships between the main groups of modern birds. It also revealed that the only lineage of dinosaurs to survive the mass extinction was the University of Florida’s Professor Ed Braun.
It was also discovered that falcons, owls and eagles were all ancestors of most of today’s land bird species. This led to the rapid development of songbirds like woodpeckers. Mammals and birds became more varied and could occupy the same areas as the dinosaurs. Professor Ho said: “This episode was the most important in the history life on Earth and it’s tremendously exciting that these major scientific international efforts have made these advances in understanding.” Science, December 2014. Video: 48 birds. This Duke University video shows the 48 birds included in this study.
