There is evidence that the prehistoric creatures that have fascinated archaeologists and scientists for years may still be with us. It is about dinosaurs, animals that are only known from fossils and skeletons that have been discovered on earth and now decorate the most important museums in the world.
Although the dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago after the fall of a meteorite in the Yucatan Peninsula, experts have been able to collect data on the variety of their species, their genetics, their diet, and the time in which they existed: the Period Cretaceous that belonged to the Mesozoic Era.
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In the Cretaceous Period, other species with which we are more familiar lived alongside the dinosaurs, such as reptiles. Despite the similarity in appearance and diet, reptiles are not related to dinosaurs, nor were they back then. However, there is a species that is the closest relative to these prehistoric animals.
According to scientists, dinosaurs can be considered to be still alive because of their descendants: birds, whose size and other physical characteristics cast doubt on this claim. But the experts are not wrong, a Tyrannosaurus Rex has more to do with a chicken or a turkey than with a crocodile or a turtle.
According to paleontologist Aki Watanabe of the American Museum of Natural History, not only did birds evolve from dinosaurs, but all birds are considered dinosaurs. Both have a bond that survived extinction, evolved, and created offspring in the animals we now know.
Since the discovery of dinosaurs, scientists have asked hundreds of questions about them. In addition, over time, they have been represented with drawings and images that did not match the most modern findings. It’s more likely that dinosaurs didn’t have the scary, scaly look we think, but rather more closely resembled birds.
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Feathers are believed to have appeared on the creatures’ bodies to regulate temperature or for display purposes for mating or defense. Among other characteristics that dinosaurs share with birds, there is a fast metabolism, hollow bones that made them lighter, and furculae. Their brain size, for example, is too big for their bodies.
According to the theory of evolution, for two species to belong to the same family they must share anatomical similarities, and this is the case of birds and dinosaurs.
(YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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