How did the earliest birds come? Trees have roots, and water is active. Similarly, birds have their origins. Similar to the development and process of other creatures, birds evolved from low to high, from simple to complex, from primitive to modern, and evolved through a long process.
scientific research shows that birds originated from primitive reptiles 15 million years ago. The backbone of vertebrate evolution is from fish, amphibians, reptiles to mammals, and finally humans. Birds appeared on the earth a little later than mammals, and it was a special branch that was differentiated from Mesozoic reptiles and developed into the air. In the long process of evolution, a series of morphological structures and physiological functions adapted to life in Yu Feixiang have emerged.
In p>1861, the first feathered fossil skeleton of an ancient bird was found in limestone of slate quarry in Bavaria, Germany, with teeth on its upper and lower jaws. The skull is like a lizard, with a long tail consisting of more than 2 coccygeal vertebrae; The forelimb has three slender phalanges. All these show that it is very similar to reptiles. However, it has feathers, reptiles have no feathers, and only birds have feathers. Obviously, this fossil skeleton is not a reptile but a bird. This feathered skeleton fossil was acquired by the British Museum of Natural History and later named Archaeopteryx. This specimen, which was first discovered by human beings, is still preserved in Britain and has become a witness of history.
Archaeopteryx appeared in the late Jurassic of Mesozoic 14 million years ago, which is the earliest bird found so far. Its body is about the size of a crow. It is both like a reptile and has the characteristics of a bird. Archaeopteryx's flying ability is very poor, and it may be mainly gliding. How did Archaeopteryx get its flying ability from its terrestrial ancestors? Generally, there are two explanations: ① It starts with running. When running, it may vibrate its feathered forelimbs to speed up, so that it can "run as fast as a fly". The ancestors of birds are arboreal. With the help of feathered forelimbs, birds often glide up and down between trees and the ground for a long time. Due to the continuous strengthening and perfection of wings, they finally gain the ability to fly.
Archaeopteryx
The discovery of Archaeopteryx is of great significance, which is a great achievement for human beings to explore the origin of birds and a milestone on the road of human research on biological evolution and development. It strongly supports Darwin's famous book The Origin of Species published in 1859, and strongly proves that birds really originated from reptiles and evolved from reptiles.
Birds evolved from reptiles, after hundreds of millions of years of long historical changes, evolution and development, gradually formed many complex and advanced species from a few low-level species. They have undergone great and varied changes in shape, feather color and living habits. Their species and quantity are second only to fish in vertebrates. They are distributed all over the world, and birds can be found in almost every corner of the world, such as the arctic edge, the highest Himalayan mountain in the world, the boundless ocean, the deep mountain jungle, the dark caves, the uninhabited deserts and the densely populated cities.