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if dinosaurs come from birds why werent they all pterodactyls

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Honestly the fact of the matter is that in order for us to accept that birds descended from dinosaurs, we have to take their word for it. And that's the problem, as birds cannot be trusted.

Take this bird for example:
UxkwJ.jpg
 

Bear

Member
Like a few people already said, dinosaurs came first.

image-04-large.jpg


The earliest known feathered dinosaurs were too heavy to fly. Over time, some began to develop a more lightweight bone structure (which birds still have) and formed more distinct wings. These became birds.

Pterodactyls come from a different lineage, not connected to birds. They have the same hollow bone structure but have more in common with with bats (featherless, wings made of stretched skin, evidence of small hairs). That's not to say that bats evolved from them, just that pterodactyls are more closely related to the dinosaurs that became mammals. They don't really fit neatly in any category, and strictly speaking they aren't technically dinosaurs.

Flight does not have a common evolutionary source. Insects developed it first, followed birds and flying mammals who developed their own forms of flight independently. Both birds and mammals branched off from reptiles.
 

Log4Girlz

Member
I don't think the Trex ever flew and shit on my car

At the very least birds came from dinosaurs. All the evidence points to at least that much. What many are claiming now is that birds are within the same family, that they are just species of dinosaurs, not that they simply arose from them. There is like, evidence and junk to support this, like tons and tons.
 

Log4Girlz

Member
Did you know that a Flamingos knees are hidden from view within its feathers? What people perceive as its lower leg is actually a giant foot.
 
I know a guy from Kanas who said he's been with both a bird and an iguana (in the biblical sense) and based on the the way they both feel inside, they're definitely related.

That doesn'y anwser your question but hopefully it opens up the floor for deeper thought on the matter.

You're welcome.
 

Amalthea

Banned
I know a guy from Kanas who said he's been with both a bird and an iguana (in the biblical sense) and based on the the way they both feel inside, they're definitely related.

That doesn'y anwser your question but hopefully it opens up the floor for deeper thought on the matter.

You're welcome.

What the hell?
 

abusori

Member
I know a guy from Kanas who said he's been with both a bird and an iguana (in the biblical sense) and based on the the way they both feel inside, they're definitely related.

That doesn'y anwser your question but hopefully it opens up the floor for deeper thought on the matter.

You're welcome.

I...um, okay.
 
I know a guy from Kanas who said he's been with both a bird and an iguana (in the biblical sense) and based on the the way they both feel inside, they're definitely related.

That doesn'y anwser your question but hopefully it opens up the floor for deeper thought on the matter.

You're welcome.

I like where this thread is going :(
 

Glasswork

Member
I know a guy from Kanas who said he's been with both a bird and an iguana (in the biblical sense) and based on the the way they both feel inside, they're definitely related.

That doesn'y anwser your question but hopefully it opens up the floor for deeper thought on the matter.

You're welcome.

tumblr_m6vc6o7DRV1rafdwyo1_500.gif
 
Like a few people already said, dinosaurs came first.

image-04-large.jpg


The earliest known feathered dinosaurs were too heavy to fly. Over time, some began to develop a more lightweight bone structure (which birds still have) and formed more distinct wings. These became birds.

Pterodactyls come from a different lineage, not connected to birds. They have the same hollow bone structure but have more in common with with bats (featherless, wings made of stretched skin, evidence of small hairs). That's not to say that bats evolved from them, just that pterodactyls are more closely related to the dinosaurs that became mammals. They don't really fit neatly in any category, and strictly speaking they aren't technically dinosaurs.

Flight does not have a common evolutionary source. Insects developed it first, followed birds and flying mammals who developed their own forms of flight independently. Both birds and mammals branched off from reptiles.

I really, really appreciate this response.
 
Flight does not have a common evolutionary source. Insects developed it first, followed birds and flying mammals who developed their own forms of flight independently. Both birds and mammals branched off from reptiles.

It's time like this I wish we could peek a billion years into the future. It seems like insects that have been doing it the longest seem to be the most proficient at flying. Birds seem to be pretty good at it but mammals suck at it. A billion years from now, will insects be better? Will birds have the directional control of insects and will mammals finally be able to do more than glide? Will plants have some level of control rather than just being carried by the wind?

You say that that these abilities developed in different species independently so I don't mean to establish such a linear path to it all, I just find it curious.

It's interesting that you here about snakes that can glide now and it makes you wonder based on what you said if reptiles are finally attempting to take flight or are they trying to devolve. LOL... wouldn't it be awesome if the just... remembered?
 

bengraven

Member
Pterodactyls aren't even dinosaurs really, they're flying reptiles.
Elasmosaurs and Ichthyosaurs weren't really dinosaurs either, they were marine reptiles.

This. They evolved differently from a similar family.

That's like asking why snakes don't have turtle shells.
 

Galang

Banned
I know a guy from Kanas who said he's been with both a bird and an iguana (in the biblical sense) and based on the the way they both feel inside, they're definitely related.

That doesn'y anwser your question but hopefully it opens up the floor for deeper thought on the matter.

You're welcome.

I had to read this a couple of times... wow.
 

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
pterosaurs are reptiles, not dinosaurs, which is a sub-class of reptile. Birds, well it seems are the decedents of therapods.
 

Angry Fork

Member
I know a guy from Kanas who said he's been with both a bird and an iguana (in the biblical sense) and based on the the way they both feel inside, they're definitely related.

That doesn'y anwser your question but hopefully it opens up the floor for deeper thought on the matter.

You're welcome.

GrinchHolyFreakingEvilF.jpg
 

Gaborn

Member
Because if they all occupied a single niche they would be less likely to survive over time because of the competition for food resources. It's much more likely over millions of years for members of a species to specialize when the competition for food becomes fierce and over time natural selection will further encourage and reinforce such selection choices in things like diet and feeding behavior to maximize the efficiency of this because it will make them more likely to survive and eventually you get... what happened.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Those cartoons with dinosaurs and dinosaur-men in them better update their roster not to include pterosaurs!
 
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